I thought it was going to be a typical war/post-war film which I don't like at all, as they seem to be the only German films which get shown in British cinemas.. and the topic can get so boring.
However, this film directed by Cate Shortland was surprisingly good. In war-torn Germany, a young woman (Lore) played by Saskia Rosendahl is forced to trek across the country with her young siblings after her parents leave, to seek refuge with their grandmother in the north. It is a unique war story, told from the perspective of the children of Nazis which I've never seen done before and it is as much a coming of age/loss of innocence story as it is a war one.
Lore and her family are strong believers in the nazi regime, and she doesn't know any different. But her party are no longer in power and no longer the good god-fearing men she believed in and she doesn't have her parents for protection. Along the way the young family meet a Jewish refugee played by Kai-Peter Malina, whom she's been told is the enemy. But if she wants her and her siblings to survive, she has to trust him as he trusts her.
The cinematography in the film was stunning, and the German countryside was bought fully to life. The child actors gave such raw and emotional performances which help us to understand the story and its continuous suspense and mystery, and for the moral challenges it presents through its storyline. I think the film brilliantly blends the social and the individual with its backdrop of the socio-historical landscape of Germany right at the end of WW2 and how the power of that situation impacts on the lives of its protagonists. Lore is an artful illustration of how one generation is affected by the actions or inactions of a previous generation.
.
Definitely one to watch !
No comments:
Post a Comment