Phoenix (2014) – a film by Christian Petzold
Houston-Leipzig Summer Movie Night
June 13, 2019, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
L’Alliance Française
As every summer, we will screen German films (with English subtitles) during the months of June, July, and August. This year our first two movies – Phoenix and Barbara – were directed by award-winning Christian Petzold, considered one of the leading directors of the Berlin School, which is a movement of young German filmmakers, shooting ambitious independent movies.
Do come in from the heat and join us for our next meeting on Thursday, June 13, 2019, 6:30 p.m., at L’Alliance Française, 427 Lovett Boulevard, Houston, TX 77006 (please note parking restrictions below), where we will show Phoenix, starring Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld and Nina Kunzendorf.
Christian Petzold: Phoenix (2014)
Breathtaking. Masterful. Gripping. – To mention but a few attributes to describe Phoenix. “An absolute knockout,” Jordan Mintzer (The Hollywood Reporter) calls this a “powerful allegory for post-war regeneration and a rich Hitchcockian tale of mistaken identity.”
In this complex emotional thriller set in 1945, Nelly Lenz, a German-Jewish singer, returns to her home town Berlin after surviving Auschwitz. She must undergo substantial surgery and reconstruction of her face that was disfigured by a bullet wound. Hardly recuperated, she goes off in search for Johnny, her one true love and husband. He, convinced that his wife his dead, only recognizes some unsettling similarities to his wife in her. Nevertheless, he suggests that Nelly should play the role of his deceased wife in order to have access to the inheritance of her family who was murdered at the end of the holocaust. Nelly becomes her own doppelgänger. Even though Nelly wants her old life back, she also needs to find out if Johnny truly loved her, and if it was he who betrayed her to the Nazis.
Do join us for the showing of this “riveting piece of work that never loses sight of its human story while also serving as a commentary for how an entire country deals with tragedies like war.” For a foretaste of the film, you can watch the trailer here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2764784/.
Christian Petzold is a German film director. He studied Film Direction at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie after completing his German and drama studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. He worked alongside Harun Farocki and Hartmut Bitomsky as assistant director and, after graduating, he continued to make several interesting and successful TV films. For The State that I am In (2000) he won the Deutsche Film Preis. For Barbara (2012), our movie in July, Petzold won the Silver Bear for Best Director, and was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. He is considered to be one of the leading directors of the Berlin School, which is a movement of young German filmmakers, shooting ambitious independent movies. In 2018 he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the entity responsible for awarding the Oscars every year.
Logistics for Houston-Leipzig Movie Night: Phoenix
Check-in begins at 6:15 p.m., the food and beverage reception at 6:30 p.m. The meeting and movie will start at 7:00 p.m. The fee of $15.00 for Houston-Leipzig members, of $20.00 for guests, and of $10.00 for students, contributes to the program costs and meeting space rental.
RSVP Here: Please respond to angelika@houstonleipzig.org and kathy@houstonleipzig.org .
Important Parking Information
Parking is limited on Lovett Boulevard – please observe all parking restrictions. Do not park across the street from L’Alliance Française (Lovett Boulevard between Whitney and Taft Streets). If you park there after 6:00 p.m. you will first receive an expensive ticket, and shortly thereafter, your car will be towed. There is plenty of parking on the side streets.