It’s not hard to see the final twist in Yella coming, but in a way this is beside the point. Director Christian Petzold’s interest is in following the path Yella takes from the film’s early dramatic outburst — bitter and needy ex-husband Ben drives himself and Yella into the River Elbe — through to the film’s conclusion. The underpopulated look to the film’s settings — in fact, we’re mostly confined to hotel rooms and company meeting rooms — might reflect what I guess is the film’s limited budget, but that also works to buttress Yella’s caustic portrayal of the state of German capitalism. Yella’s much more successful than Petzold’s previous film Ghosts, whose parallel-story structure undermined the overall effect. Here, Petzold focuses solely and successfully on Yella, and the clean lines and quiet tone of the film — where wind rustling through the trees takes on a metaphysical dimension — are in its own understated way rather compelling.
by Ian Johnston | Source: DVD
20 Apr 2008 1:13 PM | Submit Comment