Phoenix (2014 film)

 

Based on elements from the novel Le Retour des Cendres (The Return from the Ashes) by Hubert Monteilhet, Phoenix is the story of a cabaret singer who returns to Berlin just after World War II ended to find her husband to see if he was the one who informed her to the Nazis and sent her to Auschwitz. Directed by Christian Petzold and screenplay by Petzold and Harun Farocki, the film is an exploration of a woman trying to find answers as she also has a reconstructed face following a serious bullet wound making her unrecognizable. Starring Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf, and Imogen Kogge. Phoenix is an entrancing and haunting film from Christian Petzold.

Set in the events after World War II had ended, the film follows a woman who returns from Auschwitz, with a destroyed face due to a serious bullet wound, as she has her face reconstructed where she goes on a search for her husband to see if he was the one who sent her to Auschwitz. It is a film with a unique premise as it plays into a woman trying to reclaim her identity but also deal with what happened to her and if her husband had betrayed her. The film’s screenplay by Christian Petzold and Harun Farocki is loosely based on its source material as it explores a woman who copes with having lost her face but also her identity the moment she finds her husband who doesn’t recognize her at all. Yet, he would rope her into a scheme where she would pretend to be his wife in order to get her family inheritance with her getting a small cut. It would play into this conflict that the main character of Nelly Lenz (Nina Hoss) would endure as she is still in love with her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld) although her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) discovers a shocking truth while trying to find information about Lenz’s family whether they survived the Holocaust or not.

Petzold’s direction is definitely mesmerizing as it opens with Lene driving Nelly towards a hospital in the U.S. sector as Nelly is forced to show her deformed face to a guard though Petzold doesn’t show anything. Shot in various locations in Germany and parts of Poland, Petzold does play into this world of post-war Germany in which a country is coming to terms with loss, regret, and reconstruction as it sort of serves as a metaphor for what Nelly is facing as she’s first seen covered in bandages realizing that she might not regain her old face. While there are some wide shots of some of the locations, much of Petzold’s direction is intimate in its usage of close-ups and medium shots to play into not just the evolution of Nelly’s face but also in moments where she obscures it as if the scars are still there though they’re barely shown after the surgery. Yet, Petzold does maintain this ambiguity when Nelly walks into this nightclub wondering if Johnny works there as she sees him but he doesn’t recognize at all as she was sporting a few bandages and such.

Petzold’s approach to ambiguity also plays into Johnny’s scheme upon meeting Nelly who pretends to be another woman in Esther as she would only tell about this plan to Lene who is aghast over this as she really wants nothing to do with Johnny. Still, Nelly plays along to Johnny’s scheme as she wonders if he cares about Esther where she believes she had reclaimed her identity but questions about what happened the day she was arrested start to come in. Petzold would play into this air of dramatic suspense where Nelly would learn about Lene’s discovery as it adds a lot more intrigue into its ending which plays into Johnny’s scheme. Even as the climax is this scheme that would involve old friends who have no idea what is going on as if they’re about to meet Nelly for the first time in years but it is in the final scene as it relates to their past life. Overall, Petzold crafts an intoxicating and rapturous film about a woman who returns from Auschwitz with a new face to find her husband and find out the truth on the day they were separated.

Cinematographer Hans Fromm does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with some of the stylish lighting for the nighttime interior/exterior scenes of the Phoenix nightclub where Johnny works at as well as some of the usage of low-key natural lighting at the home where Nelly lives with Lene. Editor Bettina Bohler does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama as well as a few moments of dramatic suspense. Production designer K.D. Gruber, with set decorator Christin Busse and art director Merlin Ortner, does amazing work with the home that Nelly and Lene live in that is spacious that is a direct contrast to the small apartment basement that Johnny lives in while the interiors of the Phoenix night club is also cramped yet lively. Costume designer Anette Guther does fantastic work with the costumes including the red dress that Nelly used to wear as it would be a key piece of clothing that she would wear for Johnny’s scheme.

Makeup artists Barbara Kreuzer and Alexandra Lebedynski do incredible work with Nelly’s evolving look from being covered in bandages to wearing little bandages as she’s recovering where it plays into her development as the makeup work is a highlight of the film. Special effects supervisor Bjorn Friese does terrific work with some of the film’s minimal special effects that include bits of set dressing as well as a few bits in the film’s opening scene. Sound designer Dominik Schleier does superb work with the sound in the way a room sounds when it is quiet or how a nightclub is when it is loud as it help plays into the drama that occurs throughout the film. The film’s music by Stefan Will is wonderful for its somber jazz-orchestra score that plays into the drama and suspense as the music soundtrack also feature some standards of the times including renditions of songs by Cole Porter and the duo of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash.

The casting by Simone Bar is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Eva Bay and Valerie Koch as a couple of cabaret performers at the Phoenix club, Uwe Preuss as a club goer that tries to flirt with Nelly, the quintet of Frank Seppeler, Daniela Holtz, Kathrin Wehlisch, Michael Wenninger, and Claudia Geisler-Bading as old friends of Nelly and Johnny whom the latter is trying to scheme on, and Imogen Kogge as Lene’s housemaid Elisabet who runs the home that Lene and Nelly live in while also being disapproving over Nelly meeting Johnny. Nina Kunzendorf is incredible as Lene as a longtime friend of Nelly who retrieves her from Auschwitz as well as working for the Red Cross who makes a chilling discovery about Johnny as she wants nothing to do with him while is also disapproving over Nelly’s pursuit to reunite with him.

Ronald Zehrfeld is phenomenal as Johnny “Johannes” Lenz as Nelly’s husband who is trying to create a scheme in getting Nelly’s inheritance believing she had died unaware that Esther is really Nelly where he does what he can to make sure she’s like his wife where he later becomes conflicted as he starts to fall for Esther. Finally, there’s Nina Hoss in a spectacular performance as Nelly Lenz as a Jewish woman who was sent to Auschwitz only to survive despite a serious bullet wound to her face as she deals with her new face as well as a loss of identity where she tries to reclaim it through her reunion with her husband only to realize that he doesn’t recognize her. It is this multilayered performance from Hoss that showcases a woman that is blinded by love but also troubled by revelations into what he did to her as well as the fact that he thinks she’s someone else as it is this ravishing performance from Hoss that remains haunting following its last shot.

Phoenix is a sensational film from Christian Petzold that features great performances from Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld and Nina Kunzendorf. Along with its story of loss and longing, gorgeous visuals, and a somber music score. It is a film that explores a woman’s desire to reunite with her beloved despite the loss of her face but also deal with dark truths about the night her life changed as well as realizing that the past can’t be replicated. In the end, Phoenix is a tremendous film from Christian Petzold.

Christian Petzold Films: (The State I Am In) – (Wolfburgs) - (Ghosts (2005 film)) – (Yella) – (Jerichow) – (Barbara (2012 film)) – (Transit (2018 film)) – (Undine) – (Afire)

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