Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald (2007)

A woman's life is destroyed when she discovers that her husband has another family.

Director:

Nicolette Krebitz

Writer:

Nicolette Krebitz

Stars:

Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Bella Brunnet

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nina Hoss	...	Marie
Devid Striesow	...	Thomas
Bella Brunnet	...	Leonie
Chloé Brunnet	...	Elliot
Franziska Petri	...	Anna
Justus Gröger	...	Paul
Andrej Böhm	...	Busfahrer
Max Herbrechter	...	Psychologe
Katrin Riedel-Kelly	...	Psychologin
Jasper Vogt	...	Taxifahrer
Angelika Taschen	...	Angelika
Monica Bleibtreu	...	Mietzi
Otto Sander	...	Helmut
Ole Puppe	...	Alexander
Simon Schwarz	...	Hanns

Storyline

This drama deals with a woman, whose life is destroyed when she discovers that her husband has another family. Marie and Thomas, both musicians before their marriage, are an apparently happy couple, living together with their two children. One day, Thomas forgets his violin at home, so Marie follows him to bring him the instrument, but learns that he lives in another house with another woman and their son. Thus, she wants to know more about her husband's second life, which marks the end of her old life...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [de]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

27 December 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Heart Is a Dark Forest

Filming Locations:

Hamburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Seven Pictures, X-Filme Creative Pool

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A contemporary Medea

Nicolette Krebitz is best known as an actress ("Bandits")and gave her debut as director with "Jeans", a film about the new, trendy Berlin after the reunification.It was part of a whole wave of similar films and didn't make a big impression on me.So I was positively surprised by her new directorial work with the highly romantic and obscure title "Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald".It is a daring try, albeit not satisfying as a whole.The film is an odd mixture of "Berliner Schule" realism,theatre-like scenes on a bare stage depicting typical moments in a relationship and surreal scenes of a masked ball in a sort of palace,modelled clearly on "Eyes wide shut".The picture takes a bitter stock of today's gender relations and poses some uncomfortable questions.It treats the everlasting battle between the sexes, the moral of the German average middle class and deconstructs all preached ideas of a "new motherlihood".Not only in the teaming of Nina Hoss and Devid Striesow there are parallels to the brilliant "Yella",but also in that both films tell you more about the German society of today than many so called critical films.As in "Yella" the biggest attraction is the face of Nina Hoss, which reflects the abyss of despair and loss.In every scene you feel the will of the director to produce "art" and not all the parts get together well,but as a resume I would say: After "Jeans" I wasn't awaiting a new picture by Krebitz as a director with a curious anticipation, but after "Der Wald..." I am.What more could you say about a film?