Phoenix

by Christian Petzold

Phoenix

Synopsis

Nelly Lenz is a concentration camp survivor who has been left severely injured with a disfigured face. Lene Winter, who works for the Jewish Agency, takes her to Berlin. Following facial re- construction surgery, Nelly begins the search for her husband Johnny.
When she finally does find him, Johnny does not recognise her. Nevertheless he approaches her with a proposal. Since she resembles his wife, whom he believes to be dead, he asks her to help him claim his wife's considerable inheritance. Nelly agrees, and becomes her own doppelganger - she needs to know if Johnny ever loved her, or if he betrayed her. Nelly wants her life back.
The more similarities to her dead counterpart she reveals, the more desperate and confusing their relationship becomes. Will Johnny confess his love? Or his guilt?

Director

Christian Petzold is one of the leading directors in New German cinema. The German Film Critics Association has twice awarded him Best Film awards, for the urban drama GHOSTS and THE STATE I AM IN. He was twice named Best Director at the German Film Awards, for the psychological drama WOLFSBURG and THE STATE I AM IN. His first fiction feature, 2000's political drama THE STATE I AM IN, also won Best Screenplay at Thessaloniki (Greece) and the Grand Prize at Valenciennes (France). His last feature film, BARBARA, won the Silver Bear at Berlinale 2012 (Best Director).

Petzold has also received much acclaim for the made-for-TV
features SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (TOTER MANN, 2002) and DREILEBEN - BEATS BEING DEAD (2011).

Born in 1960, Petzold studied German and Theater Studies
at the Free University in Berlin, then graduated from the German Film & Television Academy (DFFB) in 1994.

Filmography
2014 PHOENIX
2012 BARBARA
2011 DREILEBEN - BEATS BEING DEAD - TV feature
2008 JERICHOW
2007 YELLA
2005 GHOSTS (Gespenster)
2003 WOLFSBURG
2002 SOMETHING TO REMIND ME (Toter Mann)
2001 THE STATE I AM IN (Die innere Sicherheit)

 

Cast

Nina Hoss
Ronald Zehrfeld
Nina Kunzendorf

Crew

Written and directed by Christian Petzold
Produced by Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber
Cinematography by Hans Fromm
Edited by Bettina Böhler

Technical Data

Format: DCP / 1:2.39 / Color / Dolby Digital
Length: 98 min.
Original language: German

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