At the end of WWII, a German nightclub singer named Nelly, recently liberated from a concentration camp, searches for her husband Johnny, a piano player. Johnny fails to recognize her, due to the facial reconstruction she’s undergone after suffering a gunshot wound. Nevertheless, they team up and hatch a nefarious plan. A cool, noirish film, complete with Hitchcockian twists. Germany / Poland, 2014, 98 minutes, rated PG-13
“An absolute knockout. Powerful. A rich, Hitchcockian tale of mistaken identity.” — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
“A daring work of art…beautiful and mysteriously powerful. It’s an original creation, and a haunting one.” — Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
“Mesmerizing. Out of the ashes of summer moviegoing emerges a masterpiece.”
— Jake Coyle, Associated Press
“A rapturous noir thriller, so beautifully made that it comes close to perfect. Nina Hoss is extraordinary.”
— Stephanie Zacharek, The Village Voice
“The cinematic equivalent of a page-turner…the ending is a legitimate corker.” — Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“It is first and foremost a moral tale, and an overpowering one…” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“There is intrigue. There is suspense. Guilt – a man’s guilt, a nation’s – hangs heavy in the air…” – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Mr. Petzold, directing from a screenplay he and Harun Farocki based on a novel by Hubert Monteilhet, has made a film of light and shadows that sometimes looks like a color version of “The Third Man,” and sometimes feels like a somber ode to Hitchcock. But Phoenix has no precise peers; it’s an original creation, and a haunting one.” – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
