Amnesia

This film is a great example of what I think of as European sensibility: the characters, be they male or female, old or young, are not afraid or ashamed of being thoughtful, sensitive, and introspective. There is a gentleness that is often found in European films of this type, that is not in their American counterparts. There is a slowness as the camera lingers on scenes, such as the sea in the distance, or the sun setting, and on details, such as plants in the garden, or a candelabra lighting a room at night. The European sensibility, combined with the story being told here, of one woman's perspective of World War II remembering it from many years after it happened, create a poignant and beautiful story about living, growing older, and the relationship of people to each other and to the beauty offered by nature and the earth. I loved it.

Barbet Schroeder's last opus could not be more aptly titled than "Amnesia". His film indeed concerns not one but three different cases of chosen amnesia : one symbolized by a nightclub whose (actual) name, "Amnesia", suggests a place where you forget your problems and where you dance to a new type of music (electronic dance) that obliterates the music of the past ; the second sort of willful oblivion is the one exercised by Jo, the young German musician of the story, his mother, his grandfather and by extension, the bulk of the German people when it comes to the Nazi past of their country ; the third kind of intended forgetfulness is embodied by the heroin, Martha, who, after being traumatized by Nazi acts of violence she once witnessed has vowed to reject everything German, starting with speaking her mother tongue.

All these notions materialize in a plot taking place on the island of Ibiza in the early 1990s, shortly after Reunification, and revolving around Martha, the German woman who does not want to hear about anything German. Sixty-year-old and happy with the house she lives in and the lovely nature surrounding it, Martha lives by herself most of the time. One day though, her new neighbor Jo, a young musician from Berlin, lands on her doorstep in need of something. And despite his being received coolly on this occasion, the young man soon grows fond of her, and she of him. But the odd thing is that both communicate in English, Jo being unaware Martha is German. How will Jo react when he learns that her new friend is German like him without her telling him and realizes how ludicrous it is for the two of them to express themselves in a foreign idiom instead of their mutual native language...?

As you can see, the storyline is thin, very thin : it definitely lacks the scope necessary to do full justice to the lofty themes Barbet Schroeder, the director of such great movies as "More", "Reversal of Fortune" or "Terror's Advocate", has undertaken to deal with. Yet the result is an interesting, at times touching, albeit quite uneven little film, the first part faring better than the second one. Which is too bad since in such a case the final impression you get is negative even if, as a whole, the movie is quite acceptable. The trouble in this section, as a matter of fact, is Barbet Schroeder's inability to give flesh to his characters, since they are used almost exclusively to convey ideas. In these conditions it comes as no surprise that "Amnesia" finds its nadir then, as illustrated by the dinner sequence in which Jo's grandfather (Bruno Ganz) confesses his guilt. Meant as an emotional climax the scenes not only fail to shake the viewer but sink into grandiloquence and ridicule as well. Simply because the director has not managed to make us believe the grandfather was a human being; to us he is only the puppet of an abstract notion.

This is all the more regrettable as in the first part the writer- director has shown he could manage to delineate his characters with subtlety. Martha and Jo, unlike the grandfather, not only exist (both their qualities and defects are pinpointed) but they also react to each other (with amusement, annoyance, wonder, etc.) as any living creature does. Which is evidenced by a few scenes involving Marthe Keller (sparkling) and Max Riemelt (pleasant) oozing charm, emotion and humor. Unfortunately, ideas gradually erase life and prevent "Amnesia" from being the great film it could have been. Not a bad one either, for even if it does not satisfy you fully, it deals with an interesting subject and is performed by a wonderful actress. Sufficient reason indeed to justify buying a ticket at your favorite theater.

I don't get it. A beautiful German or Swiss woman moves to the Spanish island of Ibiza for 50 years, because she is ashamed of being German. But how does she pay her bills, and why is there no man in her life, or children? What has she been doing for 50 years? Just watering her plants, shopping for tomatoes, and brooding about her nationality? Well, Marthe Keller is certainly one of the most attractive 70 year olds you will see. She does a nice job of conveying pain, as do the other actors. But I'm sorry. You have to explain more.

The dialogue between her and the boy's mother is excellent. The mother points out the futility of a life lived in protest, when she was never guilty of anything to begin with. The self-righteousness of it.

But we need more of a back story. It took half the picture just to hear the back story that we did get. And that was not even close to enough.

Also, how could the German characters not recognize her German accent? Hee hee. They were so shocked to find out that she was German.

It's a thoughtful film, well acted, and well photographed. But I don't recommend it. Too slow and too cryptic.

An awkward travel between WW2 and Ibiza. A conflict of identities..music..yet a symbiosis of minds. Interesting. But far too German to be set in the south of Europe.

"Amnesia" (2015 release from France/Switzerland; 96 min.) brings the story of Martha, a woman in her 60s or so, and Jo, a guy in his 20s. As the movie opens, we see Martha enjoying the sunset somewhere on an island. We then go to "10 years earlier - Spring, 1990", shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall. Martha is speaking English to her German brother who is trying to convince her to sell something back in Germany. Later, Martha's new neighbor Jo stops by as he cuts his hand accidentally. Jo is a DJ from Berlin hoping to make it big on Ibiza. Martha doesn't disclose to him that she is German, and they converse in English. Martha also refuses to ride in his car (a VW). Along the way, Martha and Jo become good friends. At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you';; just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female; Reversal of Fortune)> Here he tackles a very different topic, namely the long shadows of WW II onto ordinary Germans. The movie is paced very slowly, and it takes quite a while to find the movie's definitive direction, but once we get there, there is no escaping it. The acting by both leads (Marthe Keller as Martha, and Max Riemelt as Jo) really carry the movie. The movie's photography is pure eye-candy, and in a way the film can be viewed as a 90 min. commercial for Ibiza. And let's not forget Schroeder. He has been making films since 1969 (when he directed "More", yes, the film for which Pink Floyd did the soundtrack). The guy is now in his 70s and he is still going very strong. And why not!

"Amnesia" premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. I don't think that it ever got a US theatrical release, but thank goodness for the folks at Film Movement, which eventually released it as part of its Movie of the Month Club releases. That is how I eventually got to see it. If you are in the mood for a foreign talk (no action!) about the long shadows of WW II, I encourage you to check this out.