The Flat (2011)

As a documentarian cleans out the flat that belonged to his grandparents - both immigrants from Nazi Germany - he uncovers clues pointing to a complicated and shocking story.

Director:

Arnon Goldfinger

Writer:

Arnon Goldfinger (concept)

Stars:

Arnon Goldfinger, Hannah Goldfinger, Gertrude Kino

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Arnon Goldfinger	...	Himself
Hannah Goldfinger	...	Herself
Gertrude Kino	...	Herself (archive footage)
Axel Milberg	...	Narrator (voice)
Harald Milz	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tamar Tuchler	...	Herself
Edda Milz von Mildenstein	...	Herself
Michael Wildt	...	Himself

Storyline

As a documentarian cleans out the flat that belonged to his grandparents - both immigrants from Nazi Germany - he uncovers clues pointing to a complicated and shocking story.

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Plot Keywords:

flat | holocaust | family relationships | heritage | family history | 

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Taglines:

When you start looking at the past you never know what you'll find...

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Israel Germany

Language:

Hebrew German English

Release Date:

14 June 2012 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Die Wohnung

Filming Locations:

Wuppertal, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$19,916 (USA) (19 October 2012)

Gross:

$467,022 (USA) (4 January 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARTE, Arnon Goldfinger Productions, Noga Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Good Premise, No Bit

Both of the previous reviews contain spoilers, and both are spot on in their discussion of the context and premise of "The Flat." However, as a viewer who enjoys documentaries and mysteries, but is neither Jewish nor Israeli, I found this film lacking.

"The Flat" posits and develops a mystery but goes nowhere with it. It ends focusing on little more than the relationship of the inquisitive film maker (a third-generation Israeli) and his see-no-evil mother (a second-generation Israeli), the two of them stumbling about in an overgrown German graveyard looking for a stone that isn't there, and that is unsatisfying.

Sure, German Jews, from not later than Mendelsohn, were pulled in different directions simultaneously, and that tension makes for a potentially powerful story. But ultimately the story here is that there is no story. "No one reads Balzac anymore," an estate sale buyer, with bound volumes in his hands, says dismissively in Tel-Aviv. Another tosses a piece of furniture off a third-floor balcony to the parking area below. Such insights into contemporary Israeli attitudes are interesting, but they fail to sustain this motion picture. When the credits rolled, I felt cheated.