Direction: Christian Petzold
Country: Germany
Celebrated German filmmaker Christian Petzold (Phoenix, 2014; Transit, 2018; Undine, 2020) wrote Afire, a bleak and cerebral drama piece made of small but estimable details, as an intriguing character study. Inspired by Eric Rohmer’s summer tales and Anton Chekhov’s 1896 short story The House with the Mezzanine, the director manages to get our attention as his fictional story unfolds with raw and uncensored power.
Leon (Thomas Schubert), a young published author, and Felix (Langston Uibel), a photographer and art school applicant, decide to spend a working holiday in the latter’s family house in a remote area by the Baltic Sea. Once they get there, they realize the house is already occupied by Nadja (Paula Beer working here with the director for the third time in a row), who is very sweet, untidy and sometimes noisy. She doesn’t say much about herself. Whereas the selfish and uptight Leon is too frustrated and obsessed with writing his second novel to have fun with the others, the outgoing Felix and the luminous Nadja never miss an opportunity to socialize and enjoy the sea. There’s a massive forest fire nearby that suddenly poses a threat; yet everyone seems deeply immersed in their own thing to notice.
Petzold controls the staging with a firm hand, developing intriguing character dynamics. But do the narrative parts build into something valuable as a whole? The conclusion, associating accomplished writing with something that has to be experienced, isn’t so convincing. Ultimately, in the impossibility of feel any sympathy for the sulky protagonist, we have the raw fragility of humans and the legitimacy of neat performances to cling to. At the very least, it’s interesting to see how strangers react under certain circumstances and how convivial atmospheres can get acerbic when someone in the group contaminates them.
Petzold’s Afire is an erratic endeavor that can be considered minor within a filmography of so many accomplishments. Although imperfect, it deserves a favorable mention.
