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Bleibtreu always has great presence on-camera, and Paul is an unusually complicated man, tormented by his past, angry about his present, impulsive and also of course brilliant. Bleibtreu also finds the emotional resonance as Paul shoves his feelings away. So his tetchy banter with Hesse's superbly awkward Ingolf has a nice kick to it (franchise alert!), as do his frantic phone conversations with Linda, played with steely tenacity by Bauer and easily the most likeable person on-screen.

Writer-director Alvart tells this story with considerable skill, cleverly using light, sound and editing to crank up the suspense and make freaky situations downright terrifying. The narrative is a barrage of postmortem examinations, stormy mayhem and brutal nastiness, while the deeper character elements bring it to life, pulling us into the specific fears these people have as they discover their connections to the vile things that are happening. There's so much going on that it's impossible to follow the story's logic, but the way it develops is riveting.

themes, language, violence

29.Jun.20

Berdal is excellent as a multilingual woman who is unafraid to use everything she has, including her sexual power, to further her career. She thinks the war is irrelevant, so it's fascinating to watch her being nudged into taking sides. Everyone around her is rather dull by comparison, including her lovers, handlers and fellow stage and screen performers. This means that the relationships never spring to life, including her romance with the charming but shifty Hungarian Andor (Chapelle).

Director Jonsson makes sure that each scene in the film looks beautiful, showing off the cities, countryside and cast at their glamorous best. But the script is a choppy series of shortish sequences that don't quite flow together into a gripping whole. Since the characters are rather cold, the film thankfully avoids Hollywood bombast, but it's more intriguing than engaging. The sad truth is that Wigert's career was derailed because people thought she was a Nazi collaborator, and her heroism wasn't revealed until decades after her death.

themes, language, violence

2.Jul.20

"Since no one can help me, there's no point crying," they say. So they cheerfully greet the silence as they return to their now-empty homes, relieved that their parents aren't there. In flashbacks, mothers and fathers appear as complex people who are broken and distracted, covering emptiness with vague words or violence. Each child's story adopts a distinct musical tone. And fame brings new feelings that the quartet must deal with in their own inimitable way.

The expansive nature of the narrative, as it traverses 13 stages, allows the film to touch on some very big ideas with observations that are both provocative and resonant. For example, after their neglectful parents, these children are quickly exploited by the music industry for their sad stories and expressive energy. Thankfully, this is depicted with a sharp sense of humour, smart references and bracingly fresh originality. When you're alone, the world's rainbow colours seem to vanish. But the film reminds us that sometimes breaking the rules can offer hope.

themes, language, violence

9.Jul.20