Wohin und zurück - Teil 2: Santa Fé

The second part of Georg Stefan Troeller's magnificent 'Where To and Back' trilogy (following the excellent 'God Doesn't Believe In Us Anymore') recreates the immigrant experience in pre-World War II America with low-key but lifelike drama and emotion. The title represents a modern variation of the myth of El Dorado, naming a fabled city of gold always just out of reach over the next horizon, but unlike other films in which life in the European ghettos of New York is either romanticized or trivialized, Troeller and director Axel Corti remove the myth from the melting pot by revealing all the anguish and determination of the displaced population. Using the same straightforward style as its predecessor, the new film joins several tales of survival, confusion, love, pain and compromise, following a boatload of Austrian-Jewish refugees cast adrift in the New World, but unable to sever their ties with the Old. Troeller's reserved (but no less powerful) screenplay reveals the bittersweet truth of exile: there is no sanctuary from false hope or homesickness, and the price of optimism can be a heavy payment of despair. Familiarity with the earlier episode isn't necessary (the second film introduces an entirely new set of characters), but seeing them together adds an extra resonance and sense of continuity to both.