Una famiglia

I've been a fan of Uli Edel for many years, and his best work- CHRISTIANE F., LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, PURGATORY, THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX- usually concerns the dregs of society. How surprising then to find him venturing into Merchant-Ivory territory with this extended historical portrait of German wealth and privilege. As an American, I went in assuming the family struggles over a famous Berlin hotel would be of little-to-no interest, yet I was immediately taken by the stories and characters who never come off as rich stereotypes. Like Luchino Visconti, Edel has great affection for the manners and trappings of bygone eras, and he ably depicts the changing decades with smart, compact scenes. Unlike Visconti, he's also enough of an old-fashioned entertainer to hang all the period detail on compelling story lines. You get all the expected German saga moments: mysterious births, tragic deaths, love affairs, betrayals, class differences, business success and failure, decadence, and Nazis, but the sharp direction, evocative misc-en-scene, and solid pacing keeps it above and beyond the TV soap level. If you enjoy Visconti's lush portraits of the aristocracy like THE LEOPARD, DEATH IN VENICE, or THE DAMNED, you'll find DAS ADLON a comparable treat.