Cracks in the Shell

I have seen this movie in German language, even if I speak German a little. Even though, Die Unsichtbare really hit me. It was so intense, real and full of emotions, that it's even impossible to feel untouched by it. The acting was perfect, the storyline direct and the story was frighteningly real. The character of Josephine was believable mainly because of the pain and suffering she has been through. This movie reminds me of Black Swan, but the main difference is that Black Swan was more abstract and visual. Black Swan was interwoven by Nina's hallucinations, we saw mainly her broken perspective of the world. Die Unsichtbare is more real and therefore even more emotional. Josephine is played very well by young actress Stine Fisher Christensen, and as a psychotic directer shined Ulrich Noethen. This movie is not for everyone, it's really rough (the last half hour mainly) and emotionally smashing, even more than Black Swan.

(This review has been deleted based on an anonymous abuse report. I find nothing in it that would justify such an action and therefore humbly ask to revert that decision. I'd otherwise feel prompted to withdraw my rather numerous contributions here. If someone doesn't like the opinions I express in this review, feel free to tell me so in a comment or mail. Do not suppress other people's opinions.)

If you should have the incredible misfortune of having to sit through this thoroughly unwatchable film, you may find a little comfort in its answering the question why so many German films are equally painful to watch. After all, it shows how acting classes in Germany work, and if you sit this one out, you will not only be immunized to terrible acting just about anywhere, you will also realize why many good German films feature actresses who were not (yet) professionally trained - for example, Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) and Nina Hoss (Barbara) were cast for their first feature films when they had only just begun acting school.

As for the story, it is typical for the projects realized in a film industry which depends on state subsidies and public broadcasting: dull acting student gets cast by a sexist experimental theater director to perform as the nymphomaniac lead in his latest play, and gradually loses her psychological balance while having to deal with her Down-syndromed sister at the same time. You know, the usual 'poor girl suffers and gets sexually exploited' shtick. A love affair, which she initiates using her daring stage persona, doesn't save her. The prospective partner is played by Ronald Zehrfeld, who is making the best of an otherwise ridiculous script written by director Christian Schwochow and his mother.

Some people seem to like this sort of thing, but if you're under 50 and more into Tom Tykwer than Oskar Roehler - whose films evoke the same tedious Freudian boredom - you know what you want to stay away from. It's so terrible that, as a German citizen, I feel an obligation to apologize to non-German audiences forced to watch this prime example for the degeneration of our movie industry. Fortunately, there are still German directors - like Andreas Dresen - who work in more creative ways.

I saw this film as part of the Rotterdam Film Festival 2012. This film started as a seemingly simplistic, tragic love story (actress mingles with famous director, director drops her later on, and so on), but it progressed splendidly after half an hour. All the ingredients found their proper place in the well constructed film script. As a bonus we got an inside view in what happens back stage among the participants, and more importantly the "making of" process before a stage play is ready for a performance. Of course, we can never be sure this being typical for any stage play, but it certainly had the outlook of being realistic and truthful.

Some of the plot ingredients became apparent not until after a while, like the mother of the actress bearing the burden of a handicapped daughter. The latter needed so much attention that her sister, our main character, seemed invisible for the mother (hence the title). Freud et al would have immediately caught this to be the foundation under the story. As a layman, I needed some time to catch up. Same was the case with the stage director, who made use of the underground frustrations in the process of creating a play. Even the relatively small role of the tunnel worker has its place in the overall story line.

It serves no useful purpose to condense the story here in a few sentences, and I certainly do not want spoilers to be given away. Trust me that the net result is convincing and impressive. I found it worthy of the maximum score for the audience award when leaving the theater.