Jerichow

My advice to film lovers is: watch German film, especially East German. Last week we watched Jerichow, a film by Christian Petzold. At first, it seems like a genre film about infidelity, and an obvious one at that. But it’s really about theft– and a wife is only one thing that gets stolen. 

Suddenly the pattern is clear– stealing. Everyone is stealing from Ali. The business managers at the stands have various ways of stealing from him. They are even newer immigrants, like the Chinese couple running a modest food stand who pocket the price of an order Ali has set up in order to catch them at it. Then there’s the distributors, Laura and Thomas. Only Thomas doesn’t steal his money but his wife. Of course, it is still about money. She can’t get free of Ali because he took over a large debt for her, and a prenup will send the debt back to her if she leaves him. She may love Thomas, but not enough to live impoverished with him.

There’s nothing to do but arrange a sort of Postman Always Rings Twice plot device.

I won’t give away the ending, but what I find interesting about this film is it’s real comment on the political situation. The young generation of East Germans can’t function in the “new” society after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They want the prosperity of capitalism, but seem incapable of being the kind of entrepreneur Ali is so gracefully. They all work for him, which doesn’t sit right. They take what they need, or what they feel they deserve. Ali is not a bad guy, but his lesson is that, of course, you can’t buy love or friendship or loyalty– you can’t buy anything that really matters.

The film is great– well-acted and compelling, and a look at a world we don’t usually see in film. Don’t let the straightforward romantic suspense drama formula fool you– this is a rich film with a lot of depth.