Berlin Syndrome (2017) | Movie News & Review | - Pop Movee

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BERLIN SYNDROME (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

berlin syndrome (2017) movie

Genre | Thriller

Classification | MA 15+

Running time | 116 minutes

Released | 20 April 2017

cast

Teresa Palmer ... Clare Havel
Max Riemelt ... Andi Werner
Matthias Habich ... Erich Werner

director

Cate Shortland

writer

Shaun Grant ... (screenplay)
Melanie Joosten ... (novel)
Cate Shortland ... (additional material)

cinematographer

Germain McMicking

music

Bryony Marks

film editor

Jack Hutchings

box office result

Worldwide $28,660

Australia $ not reported

North America $28,660

the best dialogue

Andi: What would be the worst thing I could ever do to you? Don't worry... I would never do it. We are a team.

BERLIN SYNDROME (2017) MOVIE IMAGES

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Posters

Images

Posters

BERLIN SYNDROME (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

A disturbed teacher holds a young photographer captive in his Berlin apartment after bringing her home for a night of romance.

BERLIN SYNDROME (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 18 April 2017
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Cate Shortland’s BERLIN SYNDROME proves that Australian-produced films don’t need to embrace cultural stereotypes to be considered great. There’s not a Crocodile, Koala or Sheep Station to be seen in this psychological thriller starring Teresa Palmer and Max Riemelt. Shortland has taken the best elements of her previous film and television work and delivered a first-class piece of cinema that holds its own on the world stage. Some viewers may find it difficult to feel entertained when watching Berlin Syndrome, but the parallel stories of Palmer’s Clare and Riemelt’s Andi are genuinely intriguing and Shortland’s studied transformation of each character demonstrates her capability not just as a Writer or Director, but as someone who understands cinema’s power to convey its message through deliberate, powerful images matched with an equally powerful story.

Set in Berlin, the film is a slow-burn, character study that spans the traverse of emotion endured by Palmer’s Clare, as she finds herself, quite literally, trapped in a relationship she can’t escape from. While Berlin Syndrome is not quite Last Tango in Paris, it’s easy to see Shortland has taken a degree of cinematic inspiration from Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 movie in working with Screenwriter Shaun Grant to adapt Melanie Joosten’s novel. The film’s first half is full of moments of discovery, as Clare explores the streets of Berlin while working on a photo-essay of modern German architecture. Without being aware, Clare attracts the attention of Riemelt’s Andi, an English language teacher at a local school. Andi seems awkward, but well intentioned and Clare, embracing all that’s on offer, decides to follow her heart. During the initial physical interactions in the relationship, Clare experiences a sexual awakening in her lust with Andi, but it soon becomes apparent she is part of a more elaborate plan.

As the film moves through its Second Act, Clare becomes more and more aware that Andi’s awkwardness is a physical manifestation of deeper psychological issues that find full expression later in the story. While she feels threatened by his violent outbursts, the story never allows her to become a victim. Clare knows that her calculated acts of rebellion will lead to physical abuse, but she doesn’t stop trying to escape the abandoned unit complex that Andi has made his fortress from the world. An interesting question posed by Andi’s choice of residence is whether or not he consciously chose his living quarters to keep his violent personality hidden from the world or whether he did it to protect the masses from the evils that may befall them by crossing his path. These are the types of symbolic challenges Berlin Syndrome poses viewers with its carefully matched setting to character... At one in the same time, the viewer sees Andi’s actions as despicable but his personality is not unsympathetic. Despite his behaviour, he acts within his pre-defined boundaries and finds those around him who exceed those boundaries to be despicable themselves.

The key to Berlin Syndrome’s success lies in the strength of the story and the performances of the two leads. Palmer’s Clare learns about the world the hard way and her exposure to the darker side of humanity allows for her character to develop a wiseness without becoming cynical or bitter. Her decision to live life and explore never succumbs to Andi’s strangeness and violence. Riemelt’s Andi is strong but subtle. Before the viewer’s very eyes, he descends into a swirling mess of psychological torment that increases in violent intensity with each failed human interaction. The most troubling aspect of his performance is how mundane Andi seems on the outside. It’s not hard to imagine him not just in Berlin, but anywhere in the world. In Berlin Syndrome, Cate Shortland, her actors and her production team have delivered a fine Australian film that deserves to be well patronized during its theatrical release.