How do you get beyond the Holocaust? No, seriously. I’m not sure I could function. I’m trying not to be glib here. How do you revert once you’ve been through Hell? How do you go back to your life when everything about it that made it worth living has been taken? I’m pretty sure I’d just have to move … elsewhere, somewhere completely foreign … to a land of arctic moons and blazing suns, somewhere I could forget and never remember.
Nelly (Nina Hoss) didn’t leave. She returned to the partially recognizable Berlin she called home before the camps. One can hardly blame her; she’s been shot in the face and needs reconstructive surgery. Her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) acts as caretaker until Nelly is able to function again … does she ever really get there? Her tentative approach to every stimuli reminds me of a wounded animal, wanting to scamper but unable to do so.
Of course, Nelly’s got a good reason to stay – her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld) is still alive and “well.” Among the coyotes festering in the ruins of Berlin, former pianist Johnny works a busboy job in the Phoenix night club. He doesn’t recognize new-look Nelly when she comes to the club looking for him. Or does he? See, this part confuses me – he thinks his Nelly is dead and he thinks this Nelly
doesn’t much resemble past Nelly, but apparently, she does resemble her past self enough that he wants to use her to scam his dead wife’s large inheritance.
That’s low, no? Oh, and he probably sold her to the Nazis to save himself. I know, I know, you’re thinking, “dream date,” am I right?
The cardinal sin here, however, is Johnny’s steadfast refusal to recognize his wife even as he transforms her physically back into the woman she was. This is the heart of the film and the weakest part for me – I found it maddening that she continues to go along with the scamming plot but worse still that Johnny hasn’t figured out his scam wife is his actual wife. It’s not like there weren’t clues — did you never notice her walk, her smile, her mannerisms, her voice, her eyes, her word choice; some things don’t change in a person no matter what you do to her cheek bones.
Phoenix is a great title for this film; Nelly really does emerge from the flames of atrocity to be reborn with a new address, new companions and a new look; the odd part is she can’t resist the pre-tragedy trappings. I’m recommending Phoenix for a wonderful conclusion, but I wasn’t overly sold by the path these folks traveled to arrive at that particular station.
One woman returns from Hell-y
With a face that has been shot to jelly
Her ex, that galoot
Is not quite astute
Will he ever find out? Whoa, Nelly!
Rated PG-13, 98 Minutes
D: Christian Petzold
W: Christian Petzold and Harun Farocki
Genre: Post-holocaust fun!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Holocaust survivors
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Opportunists
