This film of Christian Petzold will make an indelible impression on the minds of viewers who miss out on the fact that the tale is based on a book by a French writer named Hubert Monteilhet who wrote the novel "Le Retour des Cendres. " Petzold and co-scriptwriter Haroun Farocki, who usually develop original scripts, adapts this tale with some fascinating additions. The final film is closer to the novel than the Hollywood film "The Return from Ashes" (also based on the same novel) directed by J Lee Thompson with Ingrid Thulin, where a second woman is introduced into the plot, which thankfully is not in Petzold's film. Petzold and Farocki are wonderful scriptwriters dealing with themes of outsiders trying to fit into Germany--here it is a lovely tale of a Jewess opting to live in Germany rather than in Israel/Palestine. Apart from a wonderful performance by Nina Hoss, I think the crowning glory was to select the song "Speak Low," written by Ogden Nash and Kurt Weill and sung by Ms Hoss at the end. This is one of Petzold 's films where cinematographer Hans Fromm, who has worked on all the Petzold films truly makes an impact. A trivia: the lead pair of actors are the same as in Petzold's "Barbara" and how different they appear in both!
Review of Phoenix
Phoenix
(II) (2014)
Lovely decision by Petzold/Farocki to get Ms Hoss to sing Ogden Nash's "Speak Low" at the end
13 July 2021