Yella

This enigmatic drama is a story of a young woman who confronts her ambitions and insecurities head on. The film starts with Yella accepting a new job and moving to the more modernized western part of the country. With hopes for a better future, the life she leaves behind include her loving father, her obsessive husband, and the stability of a reality understood.

Christian Petzold uses a bold no frills approach to exhibit this thought provoking film. The narrative has a minimalistic quality which serves the film well, allowing the viewer to focus on the subtle yet compelling performance by actress Nina Hoss. Yella is an intelligently layered film and a triumph for modern day German cinema.

In my opinion Christian Petzel is one of the most prominent German directors of the new century. It amazes me how low his films are usually rated.

With respect to "Yella" a possible explanation could be that the story is complicated. The film has a surprising ending (about which I shall say nothing in this review), but even including this ending there remains much to think about.

Despite or perhaps thanks to this complicated plot the film is very rewarding. It is situated in impersonal and distant environments such as highways, business motels and conference rooms. The facial expressions (amazement, disbelief, amusement) of main character Yella (Nina Hoss) contributes more to the story than the often somewhat disguised dialogue.

In the film Yella forms more and more a duo with Philipp (Devid Striesow), a shady venture capitalist who tries to buy firms in distress at a very low price and thereby explores and transcends the limits of the law.

Illuminating is the scene in which Philipp puts Yella to a test. He asks her to deposit some cash money on a bank account and gives her an exces of cash. Will she return the "spare change" to him or not? Initially she does not. It remains unclear of she thereby was failing or passing the test. Personally I think she is passing it, proving that she too could embezzle money when opportunity knocks.

Important in my opinion is that Philipp is much like Ben (Hinnerk Schönemann), the ex of Yella. Philipp has the same character and the same physical appearance as Ben, being only a little smarter and more succesful. Given the fact that Yella and Ben are from East Germany (Wittenburg) and Philipp from West Germany, there seems to be some symbolism hinting at the re-unification.

Although the way this film will end is probably there from the beginning anyone who complains about that is missing the point. The big pluses are the location, the atmosphere and the wonderful leading lady who was totally convincing as a bullied wife. Even viewed from the back she maintained her somewhat cowed attitude. I liked the hint at an unknown dimension of the spirit as she gained her freedom from her horrible husband. I also liked that the world Yella found herself in was strange and alienating but she adapted quickly because she was used to being pushed around. It's another film that demonstrates how much wiser and more satisfying European films are.

This is the fourth Petzold feature film I've seen; they've all been well-made and all have left me unsatisfied in some way. Die innere Sicherheit is his remake of Running On Empty and has some effective performances but lacks the emotion of Lumet's film. Barbara is a wonderful vehicle for his muse Nina Hoss, but the suspense you'd expect to find in a DDR story isn't there. Jerichow is a version of The Postman Always Rings Twice that is underpowered in its acting.

Now Yella has another effective performance by Nina Hoss--think of Julia Roberts with more acting ability--but the script somehow doesn't satisfy. It's more Daphne du Maurier when you really want Graham Greene. David Striesow as the cynical yet somehow sympathetic Philipp impressed me; I'd want to see him in another vehicle.

In Christian Petzold's film 'Yella', a young woman stalked by her husband after leaving him slowly rebuilds her life, and self-respect, through starting a relationship with a criminal businessman. But it's not clear how much of the story is real, and how much is the product of her traumatised mind. In its conclusion, the film resolves this question, and the answer is almost inevitably disappointing; the kick in the tail insufficiently surprising or satisfying. What is good, however, is most of what precedes the ending, as the viewer is drawn into a world intriguingly on the balance of normalcy and the sinister, as seen by a woman herself on the edge. It's nicely underplayed and there's scarcely a wasted scene; it's just a shame that the final resolution has little new to add.