What struck me foremost about Fatherland is how intimate a little story it is and yet how much it straddles such significant events in history. Perhaps that is something to reflect on, how much our lives are shaped by the events going on around us and how much those events are shaped by our lives. Fatherland is the story of a father and daughter, a writer who had to flee Germany in the Second World War only to return to visit so he could be honoured both by the new western nation West Germany and the new eastern nation East Germany in their own ways and for their own reasons. This tension is wonderfully explored without doing so in a heavy handed manner at all.
But the film truly focuses on his relationship to his adult children, especially his daughter, but also his son who has died, apparently by suicide. The film's main focus is the emotions and connections within that family as they exist with that specific turbulent German era.
Pawlikowski's black and white cinematography is outstanding. Fatherland is a striking film to watch. And these stark visuals mesh well with the narrative tone throughout. In the film's quietly climatic moment, this bears the most fruit. The film's short runtime and abrupt ending all feel very powerful.
Fatherland/Ojczyzna
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl
Writer/Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
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