Die gläserne Zelle

"Glass Cell" (1978) is a German film adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, which I watched two days after "This Sweet Sickness" (1977), a French film based on another work by the same author. And the main subject of the two films is indeed quite similar: possessive love that drives a man to the brink of madness. The development is sufficiently different, though. This German film is moody, understated, effective and psychologically sound; it transcends its relatively low budget and makes for good late-night viewing. It does not provide easy answers about the matters-in-doubt, and the ending is particularly subtle - I had to watch it twice to "get it". *** out of 4.

The architect Phillip Braun (Helmut Griem) is framed by his former employer Lasky (Walter Kohut) that embezzles the money that should be used to buy suitable material of a construction that collapses, killing a person. Phillip is wrongly imprisoned and for five years his lawyer David Reinalt (Dieter Laser) is not capable to prove that Lasky is the responsible for the accident.

When Phillip is released, he meets his beautiful wife Lisa Braun (Brigitte Fossey) and then his son Timmie (Claudius Kracht). Soon Lasky seeks Philip out to poison the relationship of his wife with David. Lisa is very close to David and Phillip becomes suspicious of their friendship. David finds a job for Phillip with a friend of him and he tells that Lasky is pressing him because he is still trying to prove Phillip's innocence. Soon Lisa confesses to her husband that she had a brief two-week love affair with David a long time ago when he was in prison, but now they are only friends. Phillips is disturbed with the revelation and his jealous increases while Lisa frequently visits David. One day, Phillip visits David and he tells that he has just saved his life since Lasky was trying to kill him. But Phillip kills David with a statue and cleans his fingerprints. Lasky and Phillip becomes the prime suspect of Police Commissioner Österreicher (Bernhard Wicki). However, Lasky had bugged David's apartment and he blackmails Phillip with an audio tape. What will Phillip do?

"Die gläserne Zelle" is an amoral story of injustice, prison, jealousy and murders. Phillip Braun is a tormented man that suffered for five years an injustice in a prison. He was separated from his wife and son, and leaves the confinement in jail with a different behavior, almost paranoid. He cannot find a job; he suspects that his wife is having a love affair with his defense lawyer; his little son calls the lawyer of "uncle". His disturbed mind is deeply affected when the responsible for his imprisonment poisons the relationship of his beloved wife and his lawyer. His next attitudes show how deeply affected he was along the period in jail. The conclusion is amoral but the real world is not fair. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cela de Vidro" ("Glass Cell")

In German-speaking countries, the director Hans Werner GEISSENDÖRFER is best known as the inventor of the ARD television series LINDENSTRASSE, which was discontinued in 2020 after a total of 35 years of running. GEISSENDÖRFER has also made successful films and was nominated for an ACADEMY AWARD in 1979 for DIE GLÄSERNE ZELLE.

After a few years in prison, the architect Philipp Braun (BAMBI AWARD winner Helmut GRIEM) is released. He finds it very difficult to connect professionally and privately. His wife (Brigitte FOSSEY) is now having an affair with Philipp's lawyer (Dieter LASER), on whom the innocently convicted man still depends. It is only with his help that he finds a new job with Director Goller (Günter STRACK). Philipp Braun is still eager to punish the truly guilty and is becoming more and more obsessed with this. There's actually a murder happening...

An ice-cold psychological thriller from West Germany: That doesn't happen very often in German-language cinema. GEISSENDÖRFER relocates the novel by Patricia HIGHSMITH (1921-1995), published in 1964, to Frankfurt am Main. And that fits perfectly. The banking metropolis is the German-speaking city with a large number of high-rise buildings. So there are lots of job opportunities for an architect! And lots of opportunities for fraud and botched construction! The twin towers of Deutsche Bank were being built at the end of the 1970s, which also fits in perfectly with the story being told. Wavering between relationship drama and psychological thriller, the audience doesn't know what will happen next. Helmut GRIEM (1932-2004), who is also known from the musical "CABARET" and the mini-series "Peter the Great", is convincing as a driven man who fights for his shattered life with all means possible.

Walter KOHUT and ACADEMY AWARD nominee Bernhard WICKI ("Die Brücke") can also be seen in other roles.

A rather forgotten but very interesting adaptation of a novel by Patricia Highsmith. The plot is simple: A man, unjustly convicted for criminal negligence to 5 years imprisonment, gets released from jail and is being increasingly entrapped to a web of jealously regarding his beautiful wife's activities while he was locked-up. The film adroitly examines the corrosive effects of jealously that gradually generate a form of mental confinement which effectively proves to be equally unbearable with the physical one. It unfolds with almost clinical precision, its use of location is inspired and the performances sharp and convincing (avoid the dubbed English version). The climax could have been stronger but it generally captures the amoralism of Highsmith's work as well as some other more well-known adaptations of her work.