This is "Yella", a German film from 2007, so it will have its 10th anniversary next year. The writer and director is Christian Petzold and this is just another great addition to his memorable body of work. I believe this was the first time that he and actress Nina Hoss worked together and she plays a lead role, namely the title character. This is the story of a young woman who gets harassed by her ex-boyfriend. The latter is played by Hinnerk Schönemann and I am quite a fan of this actor. Apart from a good performance in general, I also really liked his physical presence in here. The new man in Yella's life is played by Devid Striesow. Other supporting characters are played by very well-known German actors, such as Klaußner, Wittenborn, Brambach or Redl.
This movie here lets Petzold further rise in my appreciation because I felt his camera work was very good. Nice to see him get some recognition from awards bodies and I am also fine with Hoss winning Lead Actress at the German Film Awards. She was a really good choice for the character I think and it's a painful watch from the perspective to see her being harassed on several occasions. Beauty can be a curse and she looks really stunning in here. No doubt she was up to the challenge of playing a character who is basically in every scene of this fairly short 85-minute movie.
Another thing I liked is that Petzold did a good job in inviting the audience to take guesses what will happen or what may have happened. I guessed correctly very late into the film what really happened and it very much makes sense. Petzold is known for choosing realism over bad and forced happy ending and that's exactly how I love it. I guessed earlier on that Hoss' character may kill Striesow's while mistaking him for her ex-boyfriend in one of her delusions. I had two or three more theories throughout the film, but the explanation Petzold chose at the end was really good. I do believe it was a good way to close the film and now even if you know what happened, it can still be tempting to watch the film, not only because Klaußner's give away depiction at the end, but also in order to recognize little details, for example how much time Hoss' and Striesow's characters spent in cars and how maybe her actions during negotiations may not have fit Yella's character at all. Or how her behavior drifts away more and more from reality, so you may guess the longer it goes, the more ruthless she becomes and she is nobody who intentionally hurts others or even commits crimes herself with her past and background. It all makes sense. I was occasionally tempted to give this film an even higher rating and consider it one of the year's finest, but I decided finally a 6/10 is enough because here and there there were a few not so strong moments and the whole business aspect was something that I, from a subjective standpoint, had no interest in. But that's just me. I certainly recommend the watch here. Petzold and Hoss and other cast and crew members really did a strong job here.
This movie here lets Petzold further rise in my appreciation because I felt his camera work was very good. Nice to see him get some recognition from awards bodies and I am also fine with Hoss winning Lead Actress at the German Film Awards. She was a really good choice for the character I think and it's a painful watch from the perspective to see her being harassed on several occasions. Beauty can be a curse and she looks really stunning in here. No doubt she was up to the challenge of playing a character who is basically in every scene of this fairly short 85-minute movie.
Another thing I liked is that Petzold did a good job in inviting the audience to take guesses what will happen or what may have happened. I guessed correctly very late into the film what really happened and it very much makes sense. Petzold is known for choosing realism over bad and forced happy ending and that's exactly how I love it. I guessed earlier on that Hoss' character may kill Striesow's while mistaking him for her ex-boyfriend in one of her delusions. I had two or three more theories throughout the film, but the explanation Petzold chose at the end was really good. I do believe it was a good way to close the film and now even if you know what happened, it can still be tempting to watch the film, not only because Klaußner's give away depiction at the end, but also in order to recognize little details, for example how much time Hoss' and Striesow's characters spent in cars and how maybe her actions during negotiations may not have fit Yella's character at all. Or how her behavior drifts away more and more from reality, so you may guess the longer it goes, the more ruthless she becomes and she is nobody who intentionally hurts others or even commits crimes herself with her past and background. It all makes sense. I was occasionally tempted to give this film an even higher rating and consider it one of the year's finest, but I decided finally a 6/10 is enough because here and there there were a few not so strong moments and the whole business aspect was something that I, from a subjective standpoint, had no interest in. But that's just me. I certainly recommend the watch here. Petzold and Hoss and other cast and crew members really did a strong job here.