PHOENIX (2014)

9/15/2015 - Phoenix (2014) - 8/10

Slow, sufferingly heart-wrenching, tormented by mystery and wrapped in the crushing shroud of the Holocaust... Oh, and brilliant! Sadness and cruelty drizzle each scene like a poisonous honey, pouring from the immaculately impassioned and continuously fountainous eyes of Nina Hoss (Oscar anyone?).

This personal mystery delves into the psyche of post-war Germany and the anguish gouging at the collective souls, delivering the tragedies in a way I don't think I have seen on the screen before. Many have labeled this a Hitchcockian tale of intrigue. I didn't quite find it to be that. No less deliberate, but perhaps focusing more on personal/societal melancholy and less on the web of deceit and blow of the finale. Perhaps if the crescendo had been drawn out over the final act a bit more, it might have felt closer to type.

The pacing may be agonizing for some film goers, but I believe it is whole-heartedly worth it. One of the better films of the year so far.