In interviews director Christian Petzold gave in connection with the release of "Roter Himmel" he said that he was inspired by French summer / coming of age films from for example Eric Rohmer. According to Petzold this type of film had disappeared out of German cinema since "Menschen am Sonntag" (1930, Robert Siodmak, Edgar Ulmer and Rochus Gliese). "Roter Himmel" is indeed situated during summer, but that is where any comparison ends. The beginning of "Roter Himmel" is much more a parody on the American style coming of age films such as "The cabin in the woods" (2011, Drew Goddard) with a car breaking down in the woods and creepy animal noices thereafter.
"Barbara" (2012, Christian Petzold) was still an explicit political movie about living in the DDR. Since then the films of Petzold have remained socially concerned but have become more abstract. In "Undine" (2020) a water nymph symbolizes the element of water. In "Roter Himmel" forest fires sumbolizes the element of fire. It looks like Petzold has begun a series about the elements, just like Krzysztof Kieslowski made a series about the ideals of the French revolution in the 90's. We are looking forward to the next film.
Forst fires are unfortunately very actual in the summer of 2023. However these fires are not the main theme of the film. "Roter Himmel" is not an eco-drama. They remain on the background, at least that is what we and the characters in the film belief for (too) long.
The main character of the film is Leon (Thomas Schubert), a writer writing his second book and desperately trying to match the success of his first novel. He wraps his uncertainty in a cloak of arrogance and self esteem and in so doing gets estranged from the people around him. These people are for him more an obstacle for working undisturbed than a source of inspiration. When they go for a swim he always says that his work doesn't allow him to join them, only to waste his time when they are gone.
An important moment in the film comes when the publisher of Leon meets him to discuss the progress of his work. He doesn't like the manuscript, but he is very interested in what the people around Leon are doing. Will Leon's eyes finally open?
