Berlin Syndrome (15.)
Directed by Cate Shortland
Starring Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt, Matthias Habich and Emma Bading. 116 mins.
Australians in Europe, never ever see. Clare (Palmer) is not your standard brash Aussie backpacker; as she takes photos of DDP landmarks during her stay in Berlin she tries to remains wary and cautious. Subconsciously though her fear and uncertainty are putting out feelers that will gain the attention of teacher Andi (Riemelt), who likes to pull foreign tourists and then lock them up in his apartment in a deserted block.
The film's main attribute is a dreadful intimacy. Shortland uses lots of close ups and handheld camera to suggest her protagonist's isolation, how tenuous her connections are to her surroundings. Teresa Palmer's tremendous performance means we feel everything, we are trapped in there with her. She is an open book, her captor less so, maybe because there probably wouldn't be much to read: a children's book written in big, difficult words that he doesn't understand.
The narrative's central conceit is wondering how close Berlin's Syndrome is to Stockholm's: is Clare just playing along with Andi to survive or has she really submitted to his will. Taking an exploitative set up and giving it human dimensions is laudable but, however you do it, it is still a woman in peril narrative.
Directed by Cate Shortland
Starring Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt, Matthias Habich and Emma Bading. 116 mins.
Australians in Europe, never ever see. Clare (Palmer) is not your standard brash Aussie backpacker; as she takes photos of DDP landmarks during her stay in Berlin she tries to remains wary and cautious. Subconsciously though her fear and uncertainty are putting out feelers that will gain the attention of teacher Andi (Riemelt), who likes to pull foreign tourists and then lock them up in his apartment in a deserted block.
The film's main attribute is a dreadful intimacy. Shortland uses lots of close ups and handheld camera to suggest her protagonist's isolation, how tenuous her connections are to her surroundings. Teresa Palmer's tremendous performance means we feel everything, we are trapped in there with her. She is an open book, her captor less so, maybe because there probably wouldn't be much to read: a children's book written in big, difficult words that he doesn't understand.
The narrative's central conceit is wondering how close Berlin's Syndrome is to Stockholm's: is Clare just playing along with Andi to survive or has she really submitted to his will. Taking an exploitative set up and giving it human dimensions is laudable but, however you do it, it is still a woman in peril narrative.
