One of the brightest filmmakers of European cinema, German director Christian Petzold once again transports the viewer to idyllic summer landscapes where something is subtly amiss. The director’s fourth collaboration with lead actress Paula Beer is a suspenseful tale of loss, identity and strange connections. Beer plays music student Laura, who survives a car crash in which her boyfriend is killed. Betty (Barbara Auer), who witnesses the accident, takes the shocked Laura into her home, and soon Betty’s family treats her as one of their own. The warmth of the home, however, hides unspoken family secrets.
In Petzold’s films, ghosts and traumas always linger beneath the surface, and through them, he infuses the frames with a hypnotic restlessness. The film is shot through with tension: every gesture and pause carries more weight than words.
Music is once again a central element, both in terms of the story and the themes. Alongside Chopin and Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, the film features Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs, M. 43: No. 3 “Une barque sur l’océan”, which gave the film its name. Its beautiful, undulating melody reflects a family that is like a boat drifting on a sea of grief. The lost family is without direction until an unexpected passenger manages to change their course.
Otto Kylmälä
CHRISTIAN PETZOLD (b. 1960) is considered part of the Berlin School, a loose group of German filmmakers first making their name in the 2000s. They are known both for their intimate depiction of relationships and for their societal grip. Both viewpoints are very present in Petzold’s work. His melodrama Barbara (2012), set in the 80s, follows a physician being watched by Stasi. The lead character of Phoenix (2014) encapsulates the spirit of Germany after World War II: she doesn’t see herself in the mirror. Both characters were played by Nina Hoss, Petzold’s frequent collaborator. Another one is Paula Beer, the lead in Mirrors no. 3.
Kaisu Tervonen