‘Phoenix‘ made by Christian Petzold in 2014 is a seemingly simple film, telling almost linearly a story with only three main characters, but which contains a complexity of ideas and emotions that characterises only films or literary works of high quality. After watching the film I read some reviews and opinions of the viewers on IMDB, almost everyone interpreted differently what we had all seen on the screen, and my personal interpretation is also different from theirs. ‘Phoenix‘ is, I believe, a proof that the subject of the Holocaust is not exhausted in the art of film, that there are still significant aspects and points of view that have not been explored. It is also one of the few films (or books, or other works of art) that explore the complex and explosive theme of the relationship between the German Jews who survived the Holocaust and the country they considered homeland and which during the Nazi period turned for them into a infernal extermination machine.
The story in the film takes place in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Nelly Lenz (Nina Hoss) and Lene Winter (Nina Kunzendorf), survivors of the hell of the extermination camps, return to Germany. It is the story of an impossible homecoming, to a home that no longer exists. Nelly is completely disfigured and the reparatory surgery she undergoes transforms her to the point that she is no longer recognisable even by her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld). Is this the true reason? Their reunion is strange. Nelly would like to return to her former life, but this is no longer possible. Johnny seems convinced that Nelly is dead, but he wants to use the woman who looks like Nelly to get her fortune. Nelly decides to play the role of the stranger disguised as herself. A false identity that masks itself in the real identity. But what was left of her identity after the sufferings she had gone through? None of those around seem to be interested in what had happened in the death camps and they express no responsible for the fate of the survivors. Is the return still possible? The relationship between Nelly and Johnny is full of questions, first and foremost about the possibility of returning to normalcy after the atrocities of war, about reconciliation, and about the fight against oblivion.
The quality of the film resides in avoiding rhetoric and melodrama despite the difficult themes that are addressed. The film is designed with the tools of the ‘noir’ film combined with elements from the German films that take place in the cabaret environment. The city of Berlin with its ghostly inhabitants waking up to reality after the war experiences, with the ruins where the cabaret with the symbolic name ‘Phoenix’ becomes the meeting point of the occupants with the locals, are built with attention to detail and filmed expressively. Ronald Zehrfeld gives to his role the necessary dose of ambiguity that allows us to constantly ask ourselves about the truth of amnesia and about his transformation from husband to possible accomplice to cime, from musician to crook. Nina Hoss is extraordinary, her transition from disfigurement to beauty, from trauma to the decision to try the impossible of reconciliation, are interpreted with a wealth of nuances and emotions. The final scene is symbolic and memorable. ‘Phoenix‘ is a film experience, which I recommend to all those interested in the history of Berlin, Germany and Europe, but especially to lovers of good cinema.