Transit

Very well acted this movie reproduces perfectly the depressing mood of the time when the book was written(1944). Great idea to place it in the modern France.

Being original in the medium of film, when coupled with a fresh perspective for commonly repeated stories and themes, can lead to memorable performances with unique and refreshing interpretations, as seen here (although it seldom works with Shakespeare unless you modernise the dialogue). A 1940s passage is reimagined today within the bounds of those trying to escape conflict at a French port through any means they can establish, with the ever present threat of the authorities constantly and aggressively trying to prevent them. While the times may have changed and their reasons for escape evolved, this dilemma still remains in the real world today for some, to migrate at haste to survive.

A young man fleeing the camps in Nazi Germany finds himself in possession of papers that will allow him to go to Mexico. All he needs is to impersonate the dead man. His efforts take him to Marseille where he meets the man's wife and a convoluted tale unfolds. Intense and engaging, we are hooked form the beginning. Excellent acting. The director weaves his old war-time story with modern cars and buildings in a subtle expression of how the past overlays the present.

Highly recommended. Imaginative setting, letters of transit, Occupied France, unrequited love, maybe a bit slow, making it seem a bit long at times, and an enigmatic ending, of course. The German actor a doppelgänger of Joaquin Phoenix. A sometimes intense, always intelligent, certainly worthwhile 'art' film set in Paris, Marseilles and your imagination. We all have waited in a bar, a glass of wine in front of us, waiting for a woman we love.

The performances and story seemed great but was not able to get through the first 20 mins due to the exposition being interjected in between interactions. I don't need someone telling me what the character is feeling or thinking while I am experiencing it.

Refugees stories. Running away from persecution, hiding from the dangers of deportation, waiting for the visas that can save lives, boarding the ship that navigates to the promised shore of salvation - here are themes that resonate deeply for me, maybe also because of personal and family stories that took place no farther than one generation before us. Transit adapted by Christian Petzold from a novel by Anna Seghers set during the second world war and directed by him takes an original approach for this set of subjects. It's not a flawless film, but it impressed me in a very special manner. The approach taken by script writer and director Christian Petzold is very original. The characters and narrative parts are taken from a novel by German writer Anna Seghers, a combination of stories about Jewish and German refugees running the spreading German occupation during the second world war in which fear, love and mistaken identities combine in a quite smart and interesting mix. The setting is however today's or maybe tomorrow's Paris and Marseille, with police cars and vans with sirens permanently howling and black-suited and helmeted armed policemen chasing the 'illegals' in the streets. There are some exceptions for this environment, as at some moments we seem to be in an atemporal French bistro or see the landscape of the old port of Marseille before the contemporary touristic change of face. The language used by the heroes is also a hybrid in which literary dialogs in German mix with references to the football clubs in the 21st century Champions League. The superposition is almost didactic, but it somehow works, as the story of the love triangle (or maybe a pyramid in this case) folds on the background of the lives of the universal refugees. Some speak German, some Arabic or African languages, all are running away from the eternal police of oppression. As many love stories in time of war the intrigue here is built of intense feelings doubled by fear, shades, hidden identities. It develops slowly but the excellent acting of Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer bring on screen a whole world of passion and ambiguities, of despair and impossible dreams. The secondary thread that connects the fate of the German refugees with the one of the 'local' migrants is also described in a discrete manner, avoiding the traps of melodrama. The only major flaw is the use of off-screen voice, probably reading text from the original novel that inspired the film. It is probably intended to remind us the reference work and the period when its story takes place. I find that voice over seldom works well in movies and this is not the case here. Transit tells a very important story and its production incorporates good acting and many bright ideas. It would have been better if director Christian Petzold trusted more his viewers and made some of the details of execution more discrete and less explicit.

Throughout this movie I would find myself engrossed in the realistic emotional turmoil that the characters were going though. I loved that even though it was implied, they also never specifically said that it was a nazi regime and left the looming threat unnamed. The problem is found in the director or screenwriter's inability to trust the actors to show subtle emotion and for the audience to pick up on that emotion without it being spoon fed to us. I consistently found myself feeling for the characters in these tense emotional moment only for that feeling to be completely destroyed with annoyance at the narration that would start to dictate exactly what had just happened and what was currently happening on screen. Instead of completely spelling out what the audience was supposed to be feeling, the film would have been better off allowing it's audience to sit through those moments of silence and soundtrack to contemplate on the events being shown to us.

The main characters were peculiarly fickle, making it hard to grasp their motivations or to care about them. The fascists were as inept as the Keystone Cops, removing any sense of risk to the main characters. The narration was downright annoying. The actors made the best of a clumsy script. They were clearly talented and deserved much better.

As Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" thunders over the closing credits, I felt that finally, something appropriate and substantial was being highlighted about the anachronistic, time-shifting allegorical drama Transit. I can understand the critical praise for this movie, detailing the largely suspense less machinations of potential asylum-seekers in a near contemporary France, seeking to escape the yoke of a nameless fascist junta that is consolidating authoritarian power. But that is not to say I agree with the plaudits for the sheer underwhelming melodramatic turns of this over contrived piece. Few of the characters, least of all the (deliberately drawn as enigmatic) lead Georg, are backgrounded to any extent. It seems to be simply good enough for writer/director Christian Petzold that we understand that they exist in this WW2 scenario, but filled with everything else 21st century, apart from any references to modern media. The result is that as the glacial -paced story continues to unfold, we just lose interest in the characters, especially when stuff is constantly repeated as with the triad of group dynamics exhibited by Georg, Maria and Richard. Earlier semi-hatched sub-plots, such as that involving the boy with the deaf mute mother are seemingly just cast aside and forgotten about. Make no mistake. This is no Casablanca like movie involving intriguing romance and at least a modicum of suspense. Transit has atmosphere, but little else. Characters continually and annoyingly look at the ground when speaking. An unwelcome narration is frequently provided, when it's plainly obvious it's not required. And finally we are mercifully delivered of the twist conclusion that many of us including Blind Freddie, could see coming from well before the half way mark. The message can't be that important in my view, if the director is happy enough to let the story amble off in the direction, as the final song emphasises, on a road to nowhere.

"Transit" (2018 release from Germany; 101 min.) brings the story of Georg. As the movie opens, Georg and another German guy meet up at a cafe in Paris. The guy asks Georg to drop off two letters at an acquaintance's apartment, a writer named Weidel. When Georg arrives at the apartment, it turns out Weidel committed suicide the day before. In the ensuing confusion, Georg takes Weidel's travel documents and latest manuscript. Meanwhile, Paris is getting overrun by the fascists, and Georg manages to slip out by train to Marseille... At this point we are not even 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the latest film from German director Christian Petzold, whose prior films include The State I'm In, Gespenster, Yella, Barbara, and Phoenix, just to name those, and all of them brilliant. Frankly, Petzold is one of the very best European directors of this generation, period. Every single new film of his is an event, a milestone. Here he takes the 1944 novel of the same name by Anna Seghers, and transposes it to the big screen, but with one major change: the setting is today's France. Yes, a 1944 WWII tale dealing with visas and travel documents, refugees, and cleansing of undesirables, is set in this day and age, where one can argue these very elements also exist (albeit in slightly different ways). Another striking difference: Nina Hoss, who has played the female lead in every single Petzold movie since 2007's Yella, is noticeably absent here. The female lead in "Transit" is played by Paula Beer, a German up-and-coming actress whom we saw just a few months back in "Never Look Away". But even more importantly is the male lead performance by Franz Rogowski, whom I was not familiar with. His nuanced performance as the tormented refugee is commanding. Not to mention that he appears in virtually every single frame of the movie. Bottom line: "Transit" left me transfixed from start to finish, and is a great addition to Petzold's already impressive body of work. "Transit" premiered at last year's Berlin film festival, and now a year later finally made its way to my art-house theater in Cincinnati. Better late than never. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (about 10 people), which is a darn shame. If you are in the mood for a top notch quality foreign film dealing with issues that were relevant in 1944 and remain so today, and coincidentally directed by one of the best in the business, I'd readily suggest you check out "Transit", be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.