Journey into the desert

No pun intended - yes I took the (German) title and made a joke of sorts. The movie itself is more serious than that of course. I do wish I had taken the title itself a bit more serious. Because this is a real life person and I should have done some homework I suppose. Most American movies work without you knowing anything, but in this case ... it would have made sense.

Great acting and I assume at least some snippets of truth of the "players". It may be a bit of a dry watch (was not joking about that), but the story is well told. You can feel the struggle and the issues of our main character and what she has to go through ... emotionally. A drama that will speak to some more than to others ... especially I reckon to those who know more than myself.

I saw Margarete von Trotha's movie: Ingeborg Bachmann - Reise in die Wüste with great interest. The many negative reviews doesn't do justice to the movie because it highlights something that very few films dare to show with such clarity: that men and women don't fit together when they both work creatively. The movie shows that there is a female artist in Ingeborg Bachmann who is in a certain way humanly superior to the man, even if his name is Max Frisch - in the level of understanding, perception and finding words.

Vicky Krieps plays Bachmann, but too much in the quiet tones and colors that Bachmann doesn't really have. Just listen to her radio interviews, where Bachmann speaks in a very firm and brilliant voice. None of that here. Vicky Krieps is probably a phenotypically well cast, but vocally too lukewarm.

Ronald Zehrfeld, on the other hand, plays Frisch in a very courageous way as a toxic man who wants a housemaid, but not the competitor he sees in Ingeborg Bachmann, whom he has to envy and whose success he reacts to in a grumpy, moody and jealous manner.

Zehrfeld, one of the most important German-speaking actors of his generation, is perfectly cast here. We particularly hope for him to have many challenging roles in the future.

Overall, Trotha has made a very good and reliable film in which she courageously takes sides with a vulnerable artist who was stuck in a toxic relationship for far too long. The film's images are strong, sometimes too poetic, which is why they sometimes seem kitsch, sometimes too dignified and twisted.

So, one point is deducted for the vocally weak Vicky Krieps, who is playing too much at the moment and could use a break. As an actress, it's important to make yourself scarce.

The second deduction is for the poorly done, cheesy score and the poor sound mixing. One would like German films to have mixtures like those in the USA or France, where a score does not cover up and drown out the dialogues and conversations, but rather underscores them where necessary. The film was impossible to fully understand, which I particularly regret for a film that lives primarily from the spoken word.

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be a masterpiece, despite it's potentials inherent in the material, but it was a good piece of craftsmanship that is definitely worth looking at.

Margarethe von Trotta's Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey into the Desert is a visually stunning portrait of one of Austria's most important poets. The film portrays the emotional and intellectual turmoil of Bachmann's life, particularly her relationship with Swiss playwright Max Frisch (Ronald Zehrfeld) and her desire for personal freedom.

The film's cinematography, by Martin Gschlacht, transforms Bachmann's emotional landscape, into visual form. The contrast between European interiors-structured and dimly lit-and the golden hues of the Egyptian desert is striking.

In the urban sequences, particularly in Zurich and Rome, Gschlacht uses tight framing and shallow depth of field to reflect Bachmann's sense of entrapment in her relationship with Max Frisch and the patriarchal literary scene. Rooms are claustrophobic and characters are boxed in by architecture. All of these mirror her internal struggles, the isolation, and scrutiny.

In contrast, the desert explode with light and space. The vastness of the landscape and golden natural light, is a visual counterpoint to the rigidity of Europe. Here, the camera lingers on long, contemplative shots of sand dunes, endless skies, and Bachmann herself. It's a psychological journey towards liberation, self-discovery and freedom.

This film is not just a biographical drama, it's a visual poem.

First of all this was an interesting film and I certainly don't regret having seen it. It's a serious psychological film. People who have an interest in Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch of course have an advantage watching this. It's some kind of relationship study. Obviously the relationship is between two special persons (giants of literature), and the interaction between the relationship and the artistic production of the characters is an issue here. There is much food for thought, also regarding the changing roles of men and women, what people expect from love and relationships, how they deal with separation, and so on. Ronald Zehrfeld as Max Frisch is very convincing. I have more problems with Vicky Krieps as Ingeborg Bachmann. Her looks and gestures are fine (actually visual similarity to the real Bachmann and Frisch may have played a role casting these actors, though Krieps is maybe a bit too beautiful even when emotionally shattered), but I can't get rid of the impression "21st century actress" rather than "20th century poet" when she talks. Also in most (though not all) scenes after the separation, Krieps comes over as more positive and ebullient than I'd think Bachmann was at that time, according to what I know from Wikipedia and other sources. What is shown of the relationship between Bachmann and Frisch doesn't really make clear to me what tied them to each other apart from the initial attraction (but this happens often in films; it may be my personal issue actually); particularly of Frisch we see little that makes him a sympathetic character. But then maybe he just was like this. I regularly have the problem with fictional films about real events that it isn't clear, regarding many details, to what extent these are "true" to reality at least in some sense, and how legitimate it is to deviate. Anything that doesn't seem realistic can be justified by a sensible connection to the real events/characters, but as spectator I don't always know enough to assess this.

I have my issues with this one, but as said above, it was a worthwhile experience anyway.