Review: ‘Afire’ Proves Christian Petzold’s Talent Once Again
German director Christian Petzold’s newest film is terrific, moving from painfully relatable comedy to blindsiding tragedy
Christian Petzold has had the attention of film fans more widely since the success of his 2014 film, Phoenix. Gradually, he has earned the reputation as a modern auteur, recognised for his distinctive cinematographic style and his usual focus on quite tragic romances. Phoenix, Transit and Undine proved Petzold as a great director… now Afire cements that reputation even further, boasting some of the most impressive work in Petzold’s career.
Afire focuses on Leon, a writer played by Thomas Schubert, as he goes on a holiday to his friend Felix’s holiday home only to find a woman, Nadja (Paula Beer, who frequently appears in Petzold’s work), already staying there.
The film begins as a Rohmer-ian style comedy — Leon is thorny and about as unaccommodating of others as a person can be. He awkwardly forces himself into misery, struggles to work as he finds himself falling asleep frequently, and is generally swallowed up by a moodiness that holds him back from the fun that everybody around him is having. It is completely his own fault, and he knows that, yet he refuses to move from it. Leon engages…
