24/02/2023 - BERLINALE 2023: Fire follows water in Christian Petzold’s second elemental film, after Undine

Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel and Enno Trebs in Afire

There can be few more irritating figures in art than the writer. Not that all authors are given the same treatment in cinema or literature, but the recurring theme of men getting frustrated with their writer’s block is a red flag. By the looks of it, Leon (Thomas Schubert) does nothing to defy this stereotype; on the contrary, he relishes it. “I have to write!”, “I don’t have time for this!”, “Work doesn’t allow it!” make up his arsenal of excuses to avoid getting on with it. It seems peculiar placing such impotence at the centre of Christian Petzold’s Berlinale competition offering Afire [+see also:
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile], with the role allocated to an actor who’s new to the Petzold universe. Leon couldn’t be further removed from the gracious confusion of Franz Rogowski’s Georg in Transit [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
interview: Franz Rogowski
film profile], who assumes the identity of a dead writer.

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In Afire, as in all of Petzold’s films, there are ghosts, but – once again – not the ones you’d expect. At the movie’s ominous beginning, Leon and Felix’s (Langston Uibel) car breaks down in the middle of a forest. Fire-engine sirens blare in the distance. Mysterious shrieks pierce the bright, summer air. At the cottage they should be staying in, there is an unexpected guest, of whom only traces remain: a half-eaten dinner, clothes strewn on the floor, a purple bra. At first, only such metonymies of Nadja (Paula Beer) suggest her enigmatic nature, but the suspicion somehow carries over to her wide smile and candid demeanour. Beer, in her third collaboration with Petzold, is a glowing presence and a gravitational force.

She brings in Devid (Enno Trebbs) – a lifeguard and initially her lover – and quite effortlessly assembles three very different men around her without a single trace of the male gaze. The tighter their circle, the more unnerving the situation for Leon, who remains indifferent to the simple pleasures of summer, too self-involved to notice the smell of the Baltic Sea nearby. Since Afire is the second part in an “elemental trilogy” initiated with Undine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile], it seems only natural to have water meet fire and symbolise the protagonist’s internal conflicts. Even more significantly, the only reason their cottage is spared by the flames in the forest is the wind from the sea. But as an elaborate metaphor for desire and release, this detail reveals more than what the characters address in the dialogue, which combines lyricism with delightful humour.

Petzold’s regular cinematographer, Hans Fromm, captures both the mystery and the urgency of the film with poetic shots, while Bettina Böhler’s editing stops the fire – both metaphorical and literal – from spreading too soon. Afire builds on everything that Petzold has done before, with collaborators new and old, and carries the impetus of Jerichow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile] and Barbara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile] into his newfound dedication to the transformational force of love that we saw in Transit and Undine. This one feels fresh and vital, owing a large part of its novelty to the throbbing quartet of actors who fuel and contrast with one another, as well as melding into each other. However, the most prominent feature is Petzold’s command of tone and emotional flow. His characters live and breathe, but they truly come alive in their relationships: a sense of community to counteract isolation, togetherness to overcome the despair of writer’s block. Inspiration comes flooding in, water ebbs and flows, and flames flicker when one becomes two, three and four.

Afire was produced by Berlin-based Schramm Film, and The Match Factory handles its international sales.

Photogallery 22/02/2023: Berlinale 2023 - Afire

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Christian Petzold
© 2023 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it