Unfortunately, a gimmicky construction helps the writer-director avoid facing the consequences of the drama he's set up.
09/29/07 06:00 AM
Yella (2008)
82 %
Reviews Counted: 34 Fresh: 28 Rotten:6 Average Rating: 6.5/10
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 89 mins
Runtime: 89 mins
Theatrical Release: 21-09-2007
Synopsis:
Narrowly escaping her volatile ex-husband, Yella (Nina Hoss) flees her small hometown in former East Germany for a new life in the West. She finds a promising job with Philipp (Devid Striesow), a handsome business executive with whom an unlikely romance soon blossoms. But just as Yella seems... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Hinnerk Schönemann, Burghart Klaussner, Barbara Auer
Reviews
Tricky and insinuating, this German drama has the subtle subtext of a thriller as it follows a woman caught at a crossroads in her life. It's a little aloof and dry, but very well made.
09/21/07 09:33 AM
A supernatural thriller with much to say on the greed and venality that underpins new Europe, Christian Petzold's German drama is spookily intriguing.
09/21/07 09:01 AM
This disquieting parable about trust and risk wrong-foots us at every turn.
09/21/07 08:58 AM
Towards the end the symbolism gets heavy-handed, but by then the film has already cast its coldly mesmerising spell.
09/21/07 08:20 AM
Top Critic Exquisitely frigid, menacing, disquieting, with a storyline that keeps you off-balance, marred only by a slightly hackneyed dénouement.
09/21/07 07:37 AM
Top Critic A rich, inventive and atmospheric thriller that is somehow able to reveal the final twist while retaining its mysterious allure.
09/21/07 04:51 AM
Top Critic Like its heroine, Yella is well-turned-out but chilly; it rarely stirs the emotions, but keeps the attention hooked.
09/21/07 04:45 AM
A haunting suspense drama, which compares favourably with some of the best continental cinema.
09/21/07 03:59 AM
An expertly crafted thriller which offers a pessimistic, though deeply rewarding, glimpse of a society being haunted by its own past.
09/21/07 03:24 AM
Top Critic The consequences of Reunification are explored in this effective metaphysical thriller.
09/21/07 02:47 AM
Top Critic Engaging, well acted and impressively directed German drama, though the ending is a bit of a disappointment.
09/20/07 03:15 AM
Too obscure and oblique in its aims to completely enthral, Yella manages to get under the skin thanks to Hoss' bewitching performance as the troubled number cruncher and a final reveal that complicates everything that's gone before.
09/18/07 03:15 AM
Top Critic Filmmaker Christian Petzold meets his goal of providing an alienating portrait of the business world.
05/16/08 01:40 PM
Christian Petzold's disquieting German thriller feels modest while you're watching it, but makes a stronger-than-expected impact.
05/16/08 11:44 AM
German writer-director Christian Petzold transforms the classic American cult movie Carnival of Souls into a bleak drama about soul-sucking alienation in the reunited Germany.
05/16/08 11:43 AM
Its scenes involving the perilous business negotiations offer more genuine intellectual excitement than any CGI-stuffed chase.
05/16/08 09:27 AM
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