In Christian Petzold’s new film, Phoenix is the name of a Berlin nightclub where Nelly Lenz goes searching for her husband, a piano player she calls Johnny. World War II has just ended, which suggests that “Phoenix,” the title of this compact, haunting thriller, might have other, larger, metaphorical meanings as well. In a few years, Germany will ascend from the ruin of military defeat into an era of political stability and economic growth. Nelly, a Jewish singer who survived the Nazi death camps, is undergoing her own tentative rebirth — her face has been reconstructed after it was damaged by a gunshot wound — and her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) encourages her to prepare for a new life in Tel Aviv.

But Mr. Petzold, a fixture of the Berlin School of historically informed, emotionally challenging realist filmmakers, is more interested in the ashes of the past than the bright plumage of the future. He gravitates toward ethical shadows and ambiguous states of feeling, using film Noir techniques as a tool kit for probing dark regions of German history. Nina Hoss, who plays Nelly, has, since 2007, starred in four of this director’s features — “Yella,” “Jerichow,” “Barbara” and now this one — and seems to function for him as a combination of muse, alter ego and personified sensibility.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

Audio :

Criterion add many new extras - we get a 26-minute conversation between director Christian Petzold and actor Nina Hoss who have worked together on six films since 2001. In this video piece, recorded by Criterion in Berlin in 2016, the two delve into their working process, the evolution of their collaboration, and the themes of their films together. There is also a new, 13-minute, interview with cinematographer Hans Fromm who comments on the lush noir look of Phoenix, and how his relationship with director Petzold has evolved over the course of two decades of collaboration. The Making of “Phoenix,” is a 2014 documentary featuring interviews with Petzold, Hoss, actors Nina Kunzendorf and Ronald Zehrfeld, and production designer K. D. Gruber. It runs 21-minutes. Lastly is a trailer and the package has a liner notes booklet that contains an essay by critic Michael Koresky.

BOTTOM LINE:
I continue to be impressed by Christian Petzold. I was keen on the Noir conventions lurking within Phoenix.  It's almost hard not to use the term masterpiece as the film's themes settle into your psyche. At a minimum - it is simply brilliant. This Criterion Blu-ray package lives up to the film's greatness with a deft a/v transfer and new, informative supplements. This is a keeper and we give it our highest recommendation!

Gary Tooze

March 28th, 2016