In Fatherland, an old man and his grown daughter venture back into postwar Germany, one seeking escape, the other searching for something that has long since disappeared. Well-acted and beautifully shot, it’s also a drama with a strong message but not much else—though its black-and-white grading means it must be special, right?
I’ve never taken to director Pawel Pawlikowski’s understated dramas such as Cold War and Ida (I’ve called both of them “boring,” and Fatherland is of the same mold. Technically there is a lot to respect, but entertaining these films are not.
At a mercifully 80 minutes, Fatherland is at least short—and for a while I was drawn into the world Pawlikowski has painted. Hanns Zischler and Sandra Hüller act their asses off and have strong chemistry as father and daughter, their ability to bring the nuanced script to life a major contributing factor to this film having more life than Pawlikowksi’s previous efforts.
Fatherland works best as a snapshot of postwar Germany, punctuated by a scene in which Huller’s character encounters an actor who performed for the Nazis—Germany is a mix of people who fled with their lives and those who stayed and gave in to the Nazi regime (after all, even after a crazed ruler and his power go away, many people who still believed in them won’t). It’s a powder keg waiting to burst, yet controlled (and divided) by the West and the Soviet Union. There are plenty of compelling variables at play here.
But the dude just can’t help himself. There’s no third act to this film, no sense of completion or even anending that helps explain why Pawlikowski was drawn to this story in the first place. It’s a snapshot and nothing more, a slice of time but not quite a story.
Unlike his previous efforts, Fatherland isn’t boring. But it’s a film without real purpose, and still lacking in substantive entertainment value. It looks pretty, and Pawlikowski’s devotion to the black-and-white gimmick (he does realize that you can film in color, right?) is absolute, but sadly Fatherland feels like part of a better, more interesting story never put to film.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.