Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

tsimshotsui Christian Petzold's Jerichow tells a familiar tale but is well-crafted and involves refreshing elements that make it distinct from the others. Personally I am not a fan of affair stories and there was a point in the film where it was slowly losing my attention but masterful Petzold hooked me back and held me until the end. To say it is a complicated situation is also nothing new, but this involves people who, unlike similar films of the same nature, are not well-off or privileged in their country. I loved the character Ali and the very 3-dimensional construction of his character, never forgetting the struggles of an immigrant in their new country (among other aspects).

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Jerichow" is a German movie from 2008, so this one will have its 10th anniversary next year. It was written and directed by Christian Petzold and this movie of slightly under half an hour (without credits) is another statement why Petzold is among Europe's finest now and has been there for quite a while. His films are never really that long but they have great focus and that's much more important than the runtime, perfect this way as nobody needs another half hour or so of dragging scenes and empty moments. The three core players here are Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss and Hilmi Sözer. Fürmann has worked with Petzold on many occasions and I personally must say I don't think he is a really great actor. This film does not change anything really. His character is relatively lackluster to be honest and I felt that he required little range to work nicely, which works in Fürmann's favor. And so it is all good with the decision to cast Fürmann. Hoss is another actor that Petzold has worked with on quite a few occasions, his leading lady and her character certainly requires a bit more than the previous. But Hoss, even if she has a tendency to give extremely similar performances, is also good enough to make her work. As for Sözer, honestly so far I only knew he'd be in loud movies that Germans would call klamauk at times, so I was certainly a bit surprised to see him in a Petzold movie giving a pretty strong dramatic performance. Definitely the positive surprise here as he may very well be the film's MVP.This is the story of two men forming a friendship after one of them becomes an employee of the other. When the boss' beautiful wife comes into play, things turn sour quickly in their relationship however. It becomes clear relatively quickly that not all of the trio will survive it somehow, even with the reference towards one character falling of a cliff early on. The big question, however, would be which one(s) would turn out to get sacrificed at the end. This is also one of the most interesting aspects and Petzold comes up with a good finale for sure. I personally would call myself a fan of the filmmaker. This one here is probably not my most favorite film of him, but I still enjoyed thanks to the inclusions of interesting plot points like betrayal, violence and conspiracy. A really dark film actually, one of Petzold'Äs darkest perhaps. I think the fact why he is so good right now is that he usually does not include many characters in the center of his films and that he does without pointless supporting characters that add absolutely nothing because they are underwritten or don't get the screen time they need in order to work out. All the minor characters in here, even if they have only one scene, add something to the movie, not because we remember them, but because we remember what their scenes told us about the protagonists, like the scene with the Asian clerk and the reactions of both Sözer and Fürmann are pretty interesting to watch. The consequence is that the central characters are elaborated on even more and honestly, this is what every quality film needs. One of the better German movie from the 21st century for sure. I recommend checking it out because it feels so authentic and atmospheric at the same time and I had the impression I was watching real characters from start to finish. Watch it.

paloma54 This is really a movie which didn't need to be made. I watched it because I greatly admire Benno Fuhrmann's work in North Face and in Joyeux Noel (a wonderful film, BTW).Enough folks here have done the comparisons with Double Indemnity, etc. etc. The acting and cinematography and realism of this film are all perfectly adequate. However, there isn't much character development, and therefore, not nearly enough to make me care about the 3 main characters. In fact, the one we get to know best is actually the Turkish husband, and I had more sympathy for him in a way that for the two protagonists, largely because we don't really know them. The movie isn't full of a bunch of intriguing plot twists, and the action is relatively slow-moving. The aspect of this film which most interested us was the setting in a part of Germany which none of us have seen. My husband is German, and the part we know is the extreme southwest, nothing northeast. We were also interested to see contemporary Germany actually being depicted. But, I'm sorry, this just isn't enough to justify the amount of time.Producers and directors need to be reminded that people today have a host of other entertainment options available to them and any movie they make should be MORE interesting than say, watching a ballgame on TV, surfing the internet, playing video games, sex with spouse, camping in the woods, going out to dinner with friends, watching YouTube, etc. etc. In other words, having an interesting, entrancing story is, at least in my mind, a good half the value of a film. Unfortunately, so many movies today just don't seem to be aware of the demand for a decent story, and I don't get that. I read a lot of thriller novels, excellently written, all of which would make fantastic films, and furthermore, I know from the authors themselves that they have sold the rights to make a movie from the books. So, I ask myself, why aren't THESE stories becoming movies, instead of a lot of the ho-hum stuff that does become film?

Sindre Kaspersen German screenwriter and director Christian Petzold's fifth feature film which he wrote, is loosely based on the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice" from 1934 by American author and journalist James M. Cain (1892-1977) and was screened at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival in 2008, In competition at the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008 and in the German Cinema section at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009. It was shot on various locations in North-eastern Germany and was produced by producers Bettina Reitz, Andreas Schreitmüller, Jochen Kölsch, Florian Koerner Von Gustorf and Michael Weber. It tells the story about Thomas, a dishonourably discharged former soldier who has returned to his home in a German village called Jerichow. Thomas has begun renovating his home and is having difficulties finding a job, but after a coincidental encounter with a Turkish businessman named Ali he is offered a job as a driver. Thomas and Ali becomes friends and he is introduced to Ali's wife Laura, but as the relation between Thomas, Ali and Laura evolves, Thomas and Laura falls in love and begins to make plans for themselves.Distinctly and finely directed by German filmmaker Christian Petzold, this eloquent love triangle draws an intriguing portrayal of a dangerous liaison between a wealthy businessman's wife and a lonely former soldier. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions and the compelling cinematography by German cinematographer Hans Fromm, this somewhat romantic, at times humorous and character-driven thriller which examines themes like friendship, love, betrayal, crime and capitalism, contains a good score by composer Stefan Will.This poignantly atmospheric and finely paced fictional tale where a random meeting instigates a string of strange events, is impelled and reinforced by it's two merging studies of character, cogent narrative structure and the understated and involving acting performances by German actor Benno Fürmann, German actress Nina Hoss and Turkish-German actor Hilmi Sözer. A suspenseful and existentialistic love-story which gained the German Film Critics Award for Best Film Christian Petzold at the German Film Critics Association Awards in 2009.