"Kreuzweg" is the newest movie by Dietrich Brüggemann and his sister Anna. The duo already collaborated on several successful projects in the past, such as "Drei Zimmer/Küche/Bad" and "Renn, wenn Du kannst". Anna Brüggemann is also a prolific actress and plays a part in this film here as well. The film, which is also known as "Stations of the Cross" was pretty successful at the Berlin Film Festival last year and achieved several other awards and prestigious nominations since then. The lead character is played quietly convincing by Lea von Acken. She has not acted in anything else so far, but if she decides to become a professional, she may have a good career ahead. You really feel for her and suffer with her. Movies about religious life are not too frequent these days, maybe because it's virtually impossible to never offend anyone, either the Christians or the atheists.
So this one made for a nice change and let me tell you, it's very critical towards religion. There are several interesting aspects about it as well. Basically the main character's fate is linked to the one of Jesus Christ and we read a quote from the bible every time a new chapter begins. This quote fits nicely what is about to happen next. Also pay attention how every chapter has no moving camera at all. It's still in one place, so every chapter takes place at a certain location and does not switch places. Also, I believe there is no soundtrack here in this film. It's all about the interactions between the characters and their actions. No music. Just words. The most despicable person in the film is the girl's mother. Even after the death of the child, she still believes, everything is the way it should be and we know she is the one where her daughter got this sick approach to giving her life prematurely to God. Her father is just there, but does not say a word as the mother is clearly the head of the family, the only one with authority and nobody dares to contradict her.
The most famous cast member may be Hanns Zischler, but he only has a small part as an undertaker at the end of the film. You may have seen him in Munich. The film's heart and soul may very well be the writing. The dialogs are top-notch from start to finish, the characters' words and actions are realistic. If there is anything, I did not like about the film, it is probably the fact that her brother really started talking at the end just like a miracle. But you can probably make a point that it was just because of the extreme situation everybody was in with Maria (fitting name) was dying at the same time, ironically triggered by a piece of altar bread. This is an excellent film, one of Germany's best in recent years and I still wonder why they submitted a piece of crap like "Geliebte Schwestern" to the Academy awards with films like "Kreuzweg" as possible alternatives. Highly recommended. It's roughly 100 minutes that are as tragic as interesting to watch.
So this one made for a nice change and let me tell you, it's very critical towards religion. There are several interesting aspects about it as well. Basically the main character's fate is linked to the one of Jesus Christ and we read a quote from the bible every time a new chapter begins. This quote fits nicely what is about to happen next. Also pay attention how every chapter has no moving camera at all. It's still in one place, so every chapter takes place at a certain location and does not switch places. Also, I believe there is no soundtrack here in this film. It's all about the interactions between the characters and their actions. No music. Just words. The most despicable person in the film is the girl's mother. Even after the death of the child, she still believes, everything is the way it should be and we know she is the one where her daughter got this sick approach to giving her life prematurely to God. Her father is just there, but does not say a word as the mother is clearly the head of the family, the only one with authority and nobody dares to contradict her.
The most famous cast member may be Hanns Zischler, but he only has a small part as an undertaker at the end of the film. You may have seen him in Munich. The film's heart and soul may very well be the writing. The dialogs are top-notch from start to finish, the characters' words and actions are realistic. If there is anything, I did not like about the film, it is probably the fact that her brother really started talking at the end just like a miracle. But you can probably make a point that it was just because of the extreme situation everybody was in with Maria (fitting name) was dying at the same time, ironically triggered by a piece of altar bread. This is an excellent film, one of Germany's best in recent years and I still wonder why they submitted a piece of crap like "Geliebte Schwestern" to the Academy awards with films like "Kreuzweg" as possible alternatives. Highly recommended. It's roughly 100 minutes that are as tragic as interesting to watch.