Germany Year Zero, the third instalment in Roberto Rossellini's war trilogy, is a bleak, raw, uncluttered, cinematic slap in the face. Set amidst the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, the film follows the twelve year old boy Edmund as he struggles (I'm noticing a theme with this neorealist stuff) to support his family. Via Edmund's attempts to come to terms with the crippled world he has been thrust into, Rossellini unpacks a brutal, profoundly pessimistic plot that makes the likes of Bicycle Thieves for example seem light and fluffy in comparison. Perhaps the highlight of this though is the immediacy with which the the dilapidated decay of Berlin is captured - all towering rubble and abandoned buildings - it is the perfect setting for the unforgiving tale of disillusionment and deprivation that plays out. Interestingly, Rossellini achieves this whilst rarely straying from his subject Edmund - played with uncomplicated candour by Edmund Moeschke - whose slight innocence emphasises the imposing inhumanity of the world with which he is surrounded. Germany Year Zero is a mournful howl of a film, not necessarily a lot of fun to watch, but certainly affecting.
No comments:
Post a Comment