JERICHOW

Germany

2008

93 Min

Director: Christian Petzold

Camera (color), Hans Fromm; editor, Bettina Boehler; music, Stefan Will; art director, Kade Gruber; costume designer, Anette Guther; sound (Dolby Digital), Andreas Muecke-Niesytka, Martin Ehlers-Falkenberg, Martin Steyer; assistant director, Ires Jung; casting, Simone Baer.

Thomas( Benno Fürmann) ,young and strong, has been dishonorably discharged from the army

Ali( Hilmi Sözer),an affable Turkish businessman, has seen some hard times but now his primary concern is making sure the employees of his snack-bars don’t cheat on him.

Laura( Nina Hoss),an attractive woman with a dark past, seems to find refuge in the shadows of her marriage to Ali.

Three people stumble into a fateful encounter. A classic love triangle is born, unfolding in desolate northeast Germany, where thick forests suddenly end on cliffs overlooking the Baltic Sea. Caught between guilt and freedom, between passion and reason, the protagonists have no hopes for fulfillment of their dreams.

Thomas, Ali, and Laura keep an eye on each other and keep their secrets to themselves. They want love but also security. They consider themselves independent, and what they desire can only be achieved by betrayal.

Despite the fact that Jerichow lacks a sense of purpose outside its loose noir mechanics, it succeeds as a tightly constructed "dramatic thriller" in which the tension comes as much from what the characters are thinking as from what they end up doing, "Jerichow" again confirms writer-helmer Christian Petzold ("Yella," "The State I Am In") as a world-class talent who remains underappreciated beyond Germany.

Performance by Sozer (like Hoss and Fuermann, a Petzold regular) is the binding element in the drama, making Ali a character who's only half-unsympathetic. (One beautifully written line near the end sums up his feelings.) Hoss is perhaps least likable as the abused but still resourceful wife; Fuermann plays the blankest, and perhaps the weakest-written character of the three.How much Ali knows about the Thomas-Laura relationship, and whether he is deliberately setting them up, are two of several questions left hanging for much of the picture.

Though it lacks the emotional complexity and mystical edge of "Yella," "Jerichow," with its clean dramatic arc, is overall better shaped. The sudden ending says everything about the characters' futures -- as the viewer has, in effect, been given strong hints about it already.