WOLFSBURG Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Christian Petzold Producers: Bettina Reitz, Caroline Von Senden Writer: Christian Petzold Director of Photography: Hans Fromm Cast: Benno Furmann, Nina Hoss, Antje Westermann, Astrid Meyerfeldt Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

(Read more 2003 AFI Film Festival reviews)

Review by: Warren Curry
12/3/03

It's probably not too much of a stretch to observe that filmmaker Christian Petzold is Germany's answer to M. Night Shyamalan (minus the fixation with the supernatural). Both directors make deliberately paced drama/thrillers with equal attention paid to character development and story construction. They also, for better or worse, have a preoccupation with delivering the "surprise twist" ending. In Petzold's previous film, Something To Remind Me (still undistributed in the U.S.), the conclusion was the coup de grace to an all-around magnificent movie. Unfortunately, in his latest film, Wolfsburg (also lacking a U.S. distributor), the ending is the movie's most prominent flaw -- rushed, half-baked, and slightly undermining the near-brilliance that preceeds it.

Wolfburg's a basic story -- a self-absorbed car salesman named Philip (Benno Furman) is the perpetrator of an accidental hit-and-run that leaves a young boy fatally injured. Wracked with guilt over the crime, Philip clandestinely befriends the boy's working class, single mother, Laura (Nina Hoss), and the man's attention to her -- emotional, romantic, financial, etc.-- causes him to neglect his live-in girlfriend Katja (Antje Westermann), whose brother happens to be Philip's boss. His obsession with purging the guilt from his soul causes his life to spiral into what appears will be oblivion. Furthermore, Laura -- who's unaware of Philip's secret -- is bent on avenging her son's death.

The beautiful Nina Hoss again plays a secretly vengeful character much like she did in Something To Remind Me. However, in Wolfsburg, the character Laura is much less calculating than she is sullen and confused. What makes Hoss's performance especially intriguing is that her soft features and the vulnerability she brings to the character creates such a contrast to her inner motivations. Benno Furman also elevates Philip above the blueprint for the familiar character.

Petzold has a real gift for exploring emotions and conflict within his characters, while packaging it in the body of very plot-driven material. His films contain a unique feeling of completeness -- so well rounded, and even though they move at a measured pace, there's never a moment of disinterest. The ultimate hook of his work doesn't lie in the story gimmicks, but in creating tangible characters with whom you can identify.

So how on earth did Petzold botch the ending so badly? Perhaps the director's plan was to jolt the audience after lulling them into a trance, but it plays out more like he didn't have the budget to shoot the ending he really wanted. Unfortunately, since the entire film builds to the big climax, it's a difficult error to overlook. But don't let it deter you from seeing this film. That is, of course, if you, as an American movie fan, are actually able to see Wolfsburg. With the proliferation of indie distributors currently releasing foreign films, it's a true shame that Petzold's work can't find domestic distribution.

Wolfsburg is a brooding film saturated with a below-the-surface, slowly creeping tension. Christian Petzold is certainly one of the best contemporary filmmakers whose work you've probably never seen, so track his movies down somehow and help start the bandwagon.

(Screened at the 2003 AFI Film Festival.)

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