Hanna Flanders

What happens if the world turns upside down over night? Socialist writer Hannah loses faith in life when the Berlin Wall comes down. Neglected as a writer, and also as a lover, she tries to find a new grip in East Berlin. Excellently played, beautifully shot, wonderful music. Very memorable female hero, and fantastically casted supporting actors as well. Very sad but very touching story challenging social conventions.

The movie is a master piece of German arthouse. Outstandig cast. A very strong and touchy story. It represents the situation in recent Germany after the fall of the wall. The German actress Hannelore Elsner shows that she is one of the best character actresses of these days.

I thought this movie was HILARIOUS! Yes, hilarious... not moving, not engaging, just comic in its cheap sleaziness! This is nothing but a pretentious pseudo-artistic film that tries to explore everything but adds up to zero. Everything about it suggests that this should be a some kind of modern film noir, but what it actually is -is a soap opera in black and white. The main character is a grotesque woman feeling sorry for herself (the reason is exploited on a very shallow basis), lacks any trace of development and abides in pointlessness and pathos. Did anybody give it a thought WHAT she actually was doing in Berlin? Here's the answer: She slept there 2 nights doing absolutely nothing, except for smoking and taking pills. Wasn't the goal to revive her career? The movie's aims are way too high. It tries to depict Hanna as a person, woman, artist, mother, daughter, lover, politician... but as there's not enough time (or ambition) to evolve that, the movie wastes itself. Oh, and the "love scene" with her ex is just repulsing! I laughed seeing the first scene, seeing her smoking two cigarettes simultaneously - that was so ridiculous so the tragedy just passed by, and I laughed at the silly ending... Die Unberührbare (The Untouchable) - I don't think so...

When the Berlin Wall is torn down in 1989, a left-wing author Hanna Flanders (Hannelore Elsner) is completely shocked and sees no future for herself without the DDR. She decides to move to Berlin to start over with her former lover but everything has changed so profoundly that she just cannot find her place in the world anymore.

Even though at first the movie seems like a primarily societal one, the politics provide only the backdrop for Hanna's personal journey and the examination of feelings of alienation in the modern world. The beautiful, classy black & white cinematography and the mise en scène emphasize Hanna's loneliness and the film focuses entirely on her. She meets a lot of people on her travels, both old friends and relatives as well as new acquaintances, but none of them stay in the picture for long and very few understand how she feels about the DDR or life in general. They all have different views on the events, thus providing a look into the minds of ordinary Germans of the era, so in the end the film does have a strong societal level too, despite the main attention being on personal feelings.

The character of Hanna Flanders is based on director Roehler's mother, German writer Gisela Elsner who committed suicide in 1992, so I can imagine the film having been a very personal project for Roehler. Luckily his strong directorial style makes the story appealing to the general public too and not just to those familiar with Elsner's life and works. Hannelore Elsner (no relation to Gisela Elsner despite the name) also does a very convincing job in showing Hanna Flanders' emotions throughout the film. I think I can safely recommend No Place to Go to anyone who is into bleak, depressing portrayals of anxiety and loneliness, but the presentation of the social climate of the era should also fascinate those who are interested in the Division of Germany and the end of it.

Exposed by openness- as depicted by the collapse of the wall. High minded Marxist and high life beneficiary travels west but is rejected as a fake. Returning east the same fate befalls her, travelling back and forth she descends into madness as her rejections mount.Degraded and rejected by the east and west

Some brilliant depictions of humiliation as she tries to return a posh coat to a exclusive shop only to be told no

The acting is magnificent from Hannelore Elsner It's shot in black and white which adds to the power of the story

A brilliant and harrowing tale perhaps too inevitable in it's outcome but the chain smoking makes up for that