Jerichow (2009)

"Jerichow" is a German movie from 2008, so this one will have its 10th anniversary next year. It was written and directed by Christian Petzold and this movie of slightly under half an hour (without credits) is another statement why Petzold is among Europe's finest now and has been there for quite a while. His films are never really that long but they have great focus and that's much more important than the runtime, perfect this way as nobody needs another half hour or so of dragging scenes and empty moments. The three core players here are Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss and Hilmi Sözer. Fürmann has worked with Petzold on many occasions and I personally must say I don't think he is a really great actor. This film does not change anything really. His character is relatively lackluster to be honest and I felt that he required little range to work nicely, which works in Fürmann's favor. And so it is all good with the decision to cast Fürmann. Hoss is another actor that Petzold has worked with on quite a few occasions, his leading lady and her character certainly requires a bit more than the previous. But Hoss, even if she has a tendency to give extremely similar performances, is also good enough to make her work. As for Sözer, honestly so far I only knew he'd be in loud movies that Germans would call klamauk at times, so I was certainly a bit surprised to see him in a Petzold movie giving a pretty strong dramatic performance. Definitely the positive surprise here as he may very well be the film's MVP.This is the story of two men forming a friendship after one of them becomes an employee of the other. When the boss' beautiful wife comes into play, things turn sour quickly in their relationship however. It becomes clear relatively quickly that not all of the trio will survive it somehow, even with the reference towards one character falling of a cliff early on. The big question, however, would be which one(s) would turn out to get sacrificed at the end. This is also one of the most interesting aspects and Petzold comes up with a good finale for sure. I personally would call myself a fan of the filmmaker. This one here is probably not my most favorite film of him, but I still enjoyed thanks to the inclusions of interesting plot points like betrayal, violence and conspiracy. A really dark film actually, one of Petzold'Äs darkest perhaps. I think the fact why he is so good right now is that he usually does not include many characters in the center of his films and that he does without pointless supporting characters that add absolutely nothing because they are underwritten or don't get the screen time they need in order to work out. All the minor characters in here, even if they have only one scene, add something to the movie, not because we remember them, but because we remember what their scenes told us about the protagonists, like the scene with the Asian clerk and the reactions of both Sözer and Fürmann are pretty interesting to watch. The consequence is that the central characters are elaborated on even more and honestly, this is what every quality film needs. One of the better German movie from the 21st century for sure. I recommend checking it out because it feels so authentic and atmospheric at the same time and I had the impression I was watching real characters from start to finish. Watch it.

German screenwriter and director Christian Petzold's fifth feature film which he wrote, is loosely based on the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice" from 1934 by American author and journalist James M. Cain (1892-1977) and was screened at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival in 2008, In competition at the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008 and in the German Cinema section at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009. It was shot on various locations in North-eastern Germany and was produced by producers Bettina Reitz, Andreas Schreitmüller, Jochen Kölsch, Florian Koerner Von Gustorf and Michael Weber. It tells the story about Thomas, a dishonourably discharged former soldier who has returned to his home in a German village called Jerichow. Thomas has begun renovating his home and is having difficulties finding a job, but after a coincidental encounter with a Turkish businessman named Ali he is offered a job as a driver. Thomas and Ali becomes friends and he is introduced to Ali's wife Laura, but as the relation between Thomas, Ali and Laura evolves, Thomas and Laura falls in love and begins to make plans for themselves.Distinctly and finely directed by German filmmaker Christian Petzold, this eloquent love triangle draws an intriguing portrayal of a dangerous liaison between a wealthy businessman's wife and a lonely former soldier. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions and the compelling cinematography by German cinematographer Hans Fromm, this somewhat romantic, at times humorous and character-driven thriller which examines themes like friendship, love, betrayal, crime and capitalism, contains a good score by composer Stefan Will.This poignantly atmospheric and finely paced fictional tale where a random meeting instigates a string of strange events, is impelled and reinforced by it's two merging studies of character, cogent narrative structure and the understated and involving acting performances by German actor Benno Fürmann, German actress Nina Hoss and Turkish-German actor Hilmi Sözer. A suspenseful and existentialistic love-story which gained the German Film Critics Award for Best Film Christian Petzold at the German Film Critics Association Awards in 2009.

The allusions to "The Postman Always Rings Twice" are obvious and don't need to be discussed. What interested me was the political allegory of this movie. It reminded me of Fassbinder. In the same way that "The Marriage of Maria Braun" is an allegory of Germany up to Unification, this is too, only in a more abstract way.Spoiler:One character = East GermanyOne character = West GermanyOne character = The United States.Watch the movie and fill in the blanks.The American character is clearest—generous but inept, suspicious of his charges, unappreciated, cheated, ultimately beside the point.The ending isn't Fassbinder, but it's close.

This isn't about the movie, it's about the comment above that asserts that Jerichow is an area in east Germany that faces the North Atlantic.East Germany has a coast line on the Baltic sea.The rest of Germany has borders with Poland, West Germany and the Czech RepublicBefore you get to the north Atlantic you have to go through the north sea, and maybe the English channel (if you go that way).So Jerichow is no where near the North Atlantic.The rest of that comment should, therefore, be ignored in it's entirety.