Cate Shortland's follow up to Somersault is another coming of age story about a young woman, only this time it's 1945 Germany. Mum and Dad are top Nazis and after the Germans surrender the Allies whisk them off to a camp, so Mum tells the eldest daughter to take herself and four younger siblings (including a baby!) 900 km across country to Hamburg. The war is over and they are in the American zone, two things which make the action less exciting, even with a baby. There is a creepy guy who seems to fall for the girl, who may be a rapist or Jewish or a killer or all three.
It's beautifully made and photographed, the performances from the kids are all excellent (particularly the lead actor, who reminds me of a young Michelle Williams), and it feels like it's genuinely taking place in 1945. There are some good bits, such as an unexpected death, and I liked the enigmatic relationship between the lead girl and the guy, with it's mixture of suspicion, lust, trust, romance, hate, and general creepiness. But it ambles and feels as though it goes on too long - for all the German dialogue and setting, it's very much feels like a not-very-plot-heavy Australian film. Shortland is really talented, I just wish her films had a stronger story.
1 comment:
And what was the point? Are we meant to feel sorry for them? At least they managed to eat. There were a lot more forced marches that she might have filmed, Primo Levi's for example (although that has been done, I think).I was pleased that the possible Jew had not lost any weight in the lager and that the baby thrived over the march though.
KR
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