Yella (2007)
Directed by: Christian
Petzold.
Written by: Christian
Petzold.
Starring: Nina Hoss (Yella Fichte),
Devid Striesow (Philipp), Hinnerk Schonemann (Ben), Burghart Klausner (Dr.
Gunthen), Barbara Auer (Barbara Gunthen), Christian Redl (Yella’s Father).
Christian
Petzold specializes in endings. From Jerichow to Phoenix to Transit, his films
often leave the best moment for last, leaving you staggering out of the movie.
Over his career, he has gotten even better at the rest of the film as well –
Phoenix is a great film, with an even better ending for instance, whereas
Jerichow is a good film, with a great ending. His breakthrough film may well
have been Yella – made the year before Jerichow, and like that film also an
unofficial remake – this time of the low budget 1960s chiller Carnival of
Souls. It is a good film, and it tries to do what Petzold would later pull off
wonderfully, by shocking you at the end – but this time, it doesn’t really
work. Yes, it’s consistent with the ending of the older film – but it lacks the
impact this time around – and feels more transparently like he is trying to
shock you.
The title
character in the film is played by Petzold favorite Nina Hoss – and it’s
another great performance by her. She plays a woman, trying to escape from her
husband Ben (Hinnerk Schonemann) – but not quite being able to do so. She is
going to leave town to take a new job away from him – he has taken to stalking
her, trying to be nice and win her back, and erupting in anger when she ignores
him. She unwisely accepts a ride to the station from him for her final getaway.
The pair crash off a bridge, into the water below. And yet, Yella escapes the
car, runs to the station, and still makes the train.
Her
escape doesn’t go as planned however – she arrives at her new job, to discover
that her new boss has just been fired, and there’s no job for her. She ends up
meeting Philipp (Devid Striesow), a banker on the shady side, who invites her
to pose as an associate at an upcoming meeting. She’s smart though – and takes
over that meeting – and soon they are partners for real. But what really is he
up to?
For the
moment Yella escapes from the water, there is something deliberately off about
app film – something in the tone, in Hoss’ performance, that suggest that
perhaps things aren’t quite what they seem. You worry for Yella – that perhaps
she is just trading one problem relationship for another, because, of course,
her and Philipp are romantic partners as well. But there doesn’t seem to be
much heat between them – they are saying the right things, but appear to be
going through the motions. She is clearly a woman trapped – no other job, no
money, no place to go that isn’t right back to her father, and she wants him to
stop worrying, not worry more.
If you’ve
seen Carnival of Souls, you probably know where this is all headed – it’s a
ghost story, without any ghosts in a way. The film doesn’t have the impact of
the earlier film – if for no other reason than it doesn’t have that extremely
creepy climax at an actual carnival. The film will answer the questions – will
resolve what happened, and why the film feels so weird, but it’s all done in a
final shot meant to leave you stunned, but didn’t for me.
What
remains fascinating about the film though is that strange, otherworldly tone
that Petzold sustains through the film – and Hoss’ haunting and haunted
performance. Her Yella remains an enigmatic figure in the best way – not in a
way that frustrates, but in a way that makes you want to know more. What
Petzold needed to do is what he did in Jerichow – take a well-known story, with
a well-known ending, and twist it just enough to shock you. This time, he
doesn’t stick the landing – but there’s enough fascinating stuff to make it
still an interesting film.
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