'Jerichow' review

Nina Hoss (Credit: Christian Schulz/Cinema Guild)

Military vet Thomas (Benno Fürmann) is trying to reestablish his life in Germany when he's offered a job by Turkish immigrant Ali (Hilmi Sözer). Things get complicated when Thomas falls for Ali's abused wife Laura (Nina Hoss) and the two formulate a plan to steal Ali's money.

The buzz: German filmmaker Christian Petzold has earned a reputation among highbrow cineastes as one of the most undervalued talents in the current international film scene. His previous film, "Yella," received the widest distribution yet for one of his movies, but he still hasn't found that defining breakthrough project.

The verdict: Petzold's thrillers are more intellectual exercises than genuinely thrilling pieces of work. He's an excellent craftsman, but, if "Jerichow" is any indication, one who's likely to remain more an arthouse cult favorite than a filmmaker who successfully connects with audiences. While "Yella" loosely toyed with elements of horror classic "Carnival of Souls," "Jerichow" takes obvious inspiration from the film noir favorite "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Yet in both cases Petzold takes great pains to deprive the audience of genre pleasures, preferring an emotionally distanced approach to the material. There's value in that decision, but as we observe "Jerichow's" three main characters navigate their noirish narrative with a sense of cool detachment it becomes increasingly troubling that Petzold neglected to give us a reason to care.

Did you know? Both Hoss and Fürmann regularly collaborate with Petzold, "Jerichow" is the actress' fourth and the actor's third film with the director.

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