Milchwald (2003)

Director:

Christoph Hochhäusler

Writers:

Benjamin Heisenberg (writer)
Christoph Hochhäusler (writer)

Release Date:

4 August 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This is the story of Sylvia, who looses her stepchildren on a shopping trip in Poland. For fear of loosing her husband's love...

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Miroslaw Baka	...	Kubak
Horst-Günter Marx	...	Josef
Judith Engel	...	Silvia
Sophie Charlotte Conrad	...	Lea
Leo Bruckmann	...	Constantin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gerd Beyer	...	2. Kollege
Anna Bojarska-Urbanski	...	Frau Dorota
Rudolf Csermely	...	Prüfer
Magdalena Karczewska	...	Kubas Geliebte
Hanna Kochanska	...	Kubas Freundin
Anne Langenickel	...	Mädchen
Karl-Fred Müller	...	Polizeibeamter
Monika Pietsch	...	Lehrerin
Harald Richter	...	1. Kollege

Also Known As:

In This Very Moment (UK)
This Very Moment (International: English title)
Verloren (Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

87 min | Germany:94 min (Berlin Film Festival)

Country:

Germany | Poland

Language:

German | Polish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company:

Cine Image

contemporary version of classic fairy tale

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a modern version of the Grimm fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It consists of two cross-cut story lines: one tells about the abandoned children's odyssey, the other shows the actions of father and stepmother. The latter unfortunately is rather weak: we see two people in their big, empty house, who can have sex with each other but are unable to communicate. The old cliché. Very lame. The other storyline is much better. It's definitely fun to watch the children's journey and how they torment the poor polish guy who tries to help them. Some scenes are really great, for example the ones around the bus station.

SPOILER AHEAD

Now let's talk about the "ending" of the film. Some would call it an "open ending", but truth is: there is no ending at all. The story lines are simply cut off. On the DVD there is an interesting interview where the director talks about his decision how the ending should look like. His explanations seemed quite nonsensical to me. I have to stress that when you watch this film with its cross-cut story lines of children and parents, it is natural that the thing you anticipate the most is the (catastrophic?) confrontation between the protagonists. If this confrontation doesn't take place, it must be disappointing. I still feel cheated by the author.

END OF SPOILER

"Milchwald" seems to be typical for a certain kind of German film: it's intelligent, focused, uncompromising and beautiful, yet seriously flawed. The problem is not that it moves slow. The problem is that it lacks sensuality. The conscious effort to keep it cool, keep it cold, is too obvious for my taste. Other people, however, may like this style. So if you have a weakness for German art cinema, go and watch it.

P.S.: I'd like to ask the author: what does the German title mean?? It sounds cool, but I don't see any connection with the film.