Afire (Roter Himmel)
Leon wants, or rather thinks that he has to, write a “Berlin novel”. The detail of the ambitious writer’s plan to retreat into a forest cabin for writing might insinuate a contrevorsial author’s Seychelles workation. But this goes beyond a critical glimpse into the workings of the literature market and its pressure threatening to crack our writer. Petzold’s film might also be too serious and ambitious, but Thomas Schubert perfectly embodies the ambivalence of attention and ignorance, which Paula Beer as Nadja exposes, sometimes confidently and calmly, sometimes justifiably angrily. The dark clad character contrasts with the colorful summer setting and the apparent carelessness of his roomates and their guests. Despite every chliché, Afire is worth watching.
aftersun, Call me by your Name, C’mon C’mon
Aftersun is another summer story whose ambivalence reminded me of Call Me By Your Name. Here, too, the seemingly carefree joy of other people contrasts with a melancholy whose origin only becomes apparent at second glance. Like Luca Guadagnino’s cinematic adaption of André Aciman’s homosexual coming of age novel, Charlotte Wells’ aftersun celebrates the 1980s aesthetics with brightly colored fashion in glaring sunlight or through a blurry lense of a vintage VHS video tape camera. As viewers, we share the retrospective view of the adult Sophie who wants to discover what remained hidden from her as a teenager. Fittingly, the young actress Frankie Corio was also not allowed to see the entire script at first.
Last but not least, I was reminded of a film that I saw last summer. C’mon C’mon is another story of an adult fighting their own problems, challenged by a child. Here, it’s the young Woody Norman as Jess. Completely shot in black and white, this film can contrast or complement the ones mentioned above. I hope to watch it again in an upcoming arthouse or open air cinem.
Close (also starring great up-and-coming actors apart from the usual faces and clichés) and Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades / Wo in Paris die Sonne aufgeht) , another impressive black and white film that disappeared surprisingly quickly without getting much attention, are also on my list of films that I’d like to see a second or third time.
I also noted “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” by Nan Goldin, and “Augure” by Baloji, that I will hopefully both feature in more detail in an upcoming article.
