FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Christian Petzold - Phoenix 

How do we deal with the most unimaginable betrayal? And how do we overcome it when events change our lives forever, even though we so desperately want the BEFORE back? These are two central questions in Christian Petzold's Phoenix. Petzold, who sometimes swings his bike up the Reichenberger Strasse quite comfortably, is one of the greatest directors of our time! Sometimes he quotes role models like "Vertigo" or "Carnival Of Souls" - but we don't even notice it! Petzold's unmistakable style simply absorbs the quotes! Petzold's visual language is completely unique! But he never loses sight of human history. In short, Phoenix is perfect all around and offers the guests of our video store hours of discussion. What more could you want? First you see a face in the dark. And blood. Then Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) is introduced and she drives back to Berlin. With her: Nelly Lenz (Nina Hoss), a Jewish nightclub singer who hides Lene. In former times Nelly had a happy life. She was married to Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld). But today it is 1944 and the SS picked Johnny up. He was questioned and afterwards Nelly was deported to a concentration camp. Did Johnny betray Nelly? It's obvious! But Nelly refuses to believe this fact. She simply wants her old life back. That means Nelly denies that Johnny is a selfish monster. On the drive back with Lene, Nelly's face is covered in blood. A surgeon explains to her that she could start all over again with a new face. Leave the past behind. But Nelly just wants her old face back To look exactly the same. Nelly just denies what happened to her Against Lene's advice, she goes back to Berlin to see Johnny A battered woman in a city full of ruins But her nightclub, Phoenix, is still there Almost like an oasis of intimacy. Nelly is looking for Johnny. It's almost hopeless in bombed-out Berlin Then someone grab her! Johnny! He doesn't believe he's really got Nelly in front of him. Johnny thinks it's a strange woman who looks exactly like Nelly. He wants to turn this supposedly strange woman into "his" Nelly, because this is the only way Johnny will get Nelly's inheritance. For there is no proof that Nelly is dead "Vertigo" Petzold presents all this in a visually stunning way. Despite the Vertigo bonds, Phoenix never seems artificial. It is a deep, harrowing story that is never exposed to stylistic gimmicks and must never be. When Johnny sees Nelly again, it seems impossible to him that it could be the "real" Nelly. He did far too much to her. Therefore it can't be her. It must be a ghost. A reminder of the terrible things he did and what the whole world lost in World War II