Thursday, January 21, 2010

Jerichow

A strange little German film about a guy who tries to save a girl who is not sure she wants to be saved. Thomas is out of money and has no job prospects. He chances across a job as a driver and meets Laura, who happens to be married to Ali. This isn't strange in the odd-ball sort of way. Instead, it is one of those films that I watched and kept waiting for the main part of the story to start. I kept thinking, OK, now we are going to get into it. I kept waiting for some delving into the relationship, any relationship. It could be Thomas-Laura, Thomas-Ali, or Laura-Ali. The best window into the emotional state of these characters is Laura's statement, "Without money, you cannot love. This I know." In the end, we are mostly left with the relationships, connections and motivations to be filled in by our imagination. And while this can be a powerful method in some films, the kind of thing that makes a film stick with you, Jerichow does not carry the power.
3 stars (out of 5)

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