Thursday, October 18, 2012

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)
Lore (2012)
Genre: Drama
Director: Cate Shortland
Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Nele Trebs, André Frid, Mika Seidel, Kai-Peter Malina, Nick Holaschke, Ursina Lardi
Language: German, English
Duration: 109 min.
Rating: 7.8
Summary:
Five siblings are left to fend for themselves when their Nazi parents are taken into Allied custody.
Lore is a film directed by Cate Shortland, adapted by Shortland and Robin Mukherjee from one of the stories in the Rachel Seiffert novel titled The Dark Room. It premiered at the 2012 Sydney International Film Festival, and it is Australia's official submission to the 85th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

The setting of this dark and disturbing fairytale is the end of the Second World War. After their Nazi parents are rounded up by the Allies, teenaged Lore (Saskia Rosendahl), must lead her four younger brothers and sisters (including one helpless infant), through the forest to their grandmother's house, some 900 kms away in Hamburg.

Lore (2012)

The story feels like a grim version of Walkabout, that classic Australian film where an older sister is suddenly tasked with guiding her younger sibling through rough and dangerous terrain, and losing her innocence along the way. Here the climate and numbers are different, but the journey is very similar, and they even cross paths and join up with an older boy along the way.

What stands out the most in this film are the breathtaking visuals. Channeling the work of Jane Campion and aided by the steady hand of rising star cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Snowtown, Animal Kingdom), Shortland sensually captures the full range of colors and moods. The gloomy war-torn countryside, the cold and muddy ground, the beautiful natural surroundings, and even the desperate characters are all stylishly rendered with a tightly focused lens and a dreamily saturated palette that imbue every frame with feeling and sensation.

There's also a great deal of symbolic imagery scattered throughout. At times, some of it is a little too obvious and heavy handed, but always very evocative. Extra points for making me recall Jan Nemec's Czech New Wave classic Diamonds of the Night on a couple occasions. A similarly unsettling film that takes place largely in the woods during WWII.

Lore (2012)

The other bright spot of the pic is the impressive debut performance from Saskia Rosendahl. Her character was born and raised with Nazi ideals and inherited the prototypical Aryan looks. Quite unusual to see as a protagonist, but it doesn't take long for her to convince us that despite her upbringing, that she too is another victim of the war. Played with a careful blend of youthful uncertainty and idealistic fervor, she is complex and captivating, and also very heartbreaking.

This is only Shortland's second film, and if she still hasn't yet discovered her own distinct signature, it's clear however that she has a rare talent for intense visual storytelling. It's a powerful and memorable film intelligently told, and I expect it will be on The Academy's shortlist come January.
Bonjour Tristesse
Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

Lore (2012)

9 comments:

Dr Blood said...

Does the pretty girl (three pictures up from the bottom of the post) get nekkid?

clb said...

I feel happy coming back after a long absence to a movie I've actually seen. I was putting off visiting because I always feel like a cinema virgin when visiting (in a good way). But I leave with no scabs this time.

Lisa Thatcher said...

I confess to a little cultural cringe with this film. I "almost" saw it twice at the film festival and then didn't end up going and its almost out of our cinemas here now and I still haven't seen it. As usual, your compelling review has talked me into it - I'll get there before it goes. It certainly looks very beautiful. I think I was strangely turned off because of Faust which I loved so much. I saw the Diamonds in the Night connection in the trailer as well, which was something that attracted me. Perhaps, as an Australian, given then films importance this year, I was a little scared that it might not be that good. I'll toddle along though.

d_4 said...

Initially I was thinking no.. but then I realized I'm justnot in the mood for it right now. It really does seem well done, and I'll probably enjoy it at the right time. We'll see.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Ahem. That pretty girl, I'm not sure how old the actress is, but the character in the film is 14 maybe 15...

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Cool. Welcome back! What did you think of the film?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

To be honest, I probably would have skipped this one too if it wasn't one of the Oscar hopefuls. There's a part of me that is getting tired of seeing yet another WWII themed movie. I'm glad I saw it though.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

No worries. That was my initial reaction too.

Dr Blood said...

She's 19.

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