X
- 2023
- Sideshow (II)
- 1 h 42 m
- 2023
- Sideshow (II)
- 1 h 42 m
Summary While vacationing by the Baltic Sea, writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) are surprised by the presence of Nadja (Paula Beer), a mysterious young woman staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home. Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and with brutal honesty, forces him to confront ...
Directed By: Christian Petzold
Written By: Christian Petzold
- 2023
- Sideshow (II)
- 1 h 42 m
- 2023
- Sideshow (II)
- 1 h 42 m
Afire
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary While vacationing by the Baltic Sea, writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) are surprised by the presence of Nadja (Paula Beer), a mysterious young woman staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home. Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and with brutal honesty, forces him to confront ...
Directed By: Christian Petzold
Written By: Christian Petzold
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
82
93% Positive
26 Reviews
26 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
82
93% Positive
26 Reviews
26 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Throughout this movie, an absorbing, barbed and frequently funny evisceration of artistic ego, Petzold practices a deft and disarming sleight of hand, using key details to keep the viewer off balance and deliver a stinging rebuke to Leon’s myopia.
The German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s spiky and at times mordantly funny Afire is a tonic for moviegoers tired of nice, squishable, likable, relatable dull and dull characters.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 User Ratings
6.2
45% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
36% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
18% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 User Ratings
6.2
45% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
36% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
18% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Afire is the most suspenseful romantic comedy I've seen in a long time: you think you know how it's all supposed to turn out, but the more the story develops, the more impossible a happy ending seems. Sexy, funny, and idyllic like an undiscovered Shakespeare play or Mozart opera; like those, it's also deadly serious. The performances are pure magic and completely real.
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Fire is a force that can destroy and devastate, but it’s also one thar can cleanse, sweeping away what’s of questionable value in order to clear space for robust, vigorous, valued new growth. And, sometimes, it can do both simultaneously, as demonstrated in writer-director Christian Petzold’s latest, a searing drama/wry comedy about four old/newfound friends who are unwittingly drawn together at a summer house near the Baltic seacoast. Their time together proves revelatory, stressful and enlightening, in part because of their interactions, the disclosures that come out of those relationships, and the looming threat of ravaging forest fires that threaten them and their existence, both literally and metaphorically. The film is a slowburn in every sense of the word, especially at the outset, with a somewhat cryptic narrative that seems rather meandering at times, but that sets the stage for what’s to follow in the back half. The picture subsequently presents a witty but profoundly insightful examination of what makes us who we are, how much we enjoy or endure our lives, and what we can do to make it better for ourselves when we eliminate what no longer serves us. In many respects, “Afire” is probably not what most viewers will expect, but, then, that’s a huge part of its appeal, a refreshing, engaging look at life and what we make of it, a valuable exercise given how abruptly it can all be taken away, leaving us to ask ourselves, what did we do with the time we had and was it indeed worth it in the end? Give this one time to unfold, and let it sink in. It may help you realize and understand more about yourself than you can possibly imagine.
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Few movies this year will be as quietly sizzling as German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” a novelistic and sophisticated character study that kindles inside a chamber piece, as languid as a relaxed summer day and as heartbreaking as the end of a short-lived summer love.
Christian Petzold, the film’s writer as well as director, rightly took home Berlin’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for this genre-defying comedy of manners. The German master deftly weaves ecological catastrophe, sexual capering and a portrait of beta masculinity into a plot that, at first glance, could be a holiday-from-hell sitcom episode.
The modulation in the final stretch from extreme sorrow to regeneration and then a possibility of reconnection in the open ending is lovely.
The careful control displayed throughout Afire allows its deep, elegant characterizations to persist through the narrative smog, long after the rest of the film burns away.
Petzold said he conceived of the film during the pandemic lockdown — that makes sense, considering the sparseness of the setting and small cast — and was inspired by the character studies of French filmmaker Éric Rohmer and Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Unfortunately, he needed inspiration from another great artist: Christian Petzold.
No mesmo ano em que tivemos "The lesson" (Alice Troughton), sobre um interessante aspirante a escritor, novamente as lentes se voltam a um escritor em ascensão, mas dessa vez o retrata com figura muito mais insegura, incapaz de firmar-se socialmente.
O filme já começa com os dois amigos indo aos seus destinos mas tendo problemas no carro (o que será importante para o desfecho), abandonados a alguns poucos quilômetros, e claro que o nosso protagonista escritor, Leon (Thomas Schubert), terá muitas dificuldades em tomas as rédeas da situação: um rapaz introvertido, inseguro, mas também muito egocentrado.
Ao chegarem à casa, tendo que lidar com mais algumas pessoas que vão orbitar aquele microcosmo, Leon parece a todo instante sentir-se pouco à vontade, por mais que seu olhar curioso procure as relações sociais a que está submetido. Ele é incapaz de olhar além da superfície, fazendo pré-julgamentos, aparentemente com certa fobia.
Tudo isso parece vir de encontro à sua escrita, problemática. Há algumas camadas interessantes no filme, como o papel da Paula Beer, que vive Nadja, uma mulher aparentemente livre, descompromissada, que acaba por tecer críticas duras ao trabalho de Leon. Há também os incêndios consumindo o entorno, que mostra que a cabeça de Leon está cercada de uma fluidez, o que Nietzche fala de "vontade de potência", mas que é algo que o cerca, que nunca chega (embora os incêndios causem sim um acidente muito importante na trama).Alguns diálogos fluem bem, outros um pouco forçados, e o desenvolvimento de alguns personagens ficou a desejar (do seu amigo).
A trama também não é das mais complexas, mas a entrega de todo o elenco é boa o suficiente para mergulharmos de cabeça na história. Leon é uma pessoa comum, tentando fazer da situação cotidiano o substrato para seu material literário. Típico, mas também nada mais do que medíocre.
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What a pretentious movie!
It is also slow, poorly constructed and with the main annoying character, that you are rooting against, if you stay awake that is.
I am surprised that the jury of the Berlin International Festival even finished watching it, let alone awarded it the Silver Bear, after they generously loaded it with their own artistic projections.
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Awards
VHS Awards
• 6 Nominations
German Film Critics Association Awards
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
