German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s “Afire” just screened at the Berlin Film Festival. It’s probably, for many, the most anticipated film of this year’s festival.
Reviews have been, so far, good. IndieWire’s Ben Croll is mixed with his B- grade. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw did not like it at all with a two-star rating.
Other than those, THR, Variety, Screen, The Film Stage and Deadline are all highly positive, with many comparing this latest Petzold to Eric Rohmer’s brand of outdoorsy realism.
The film started shooting in Germany last July. A trailer was released a few weeks ago. Petzold’s cinematic muse, actress Paula Beer, leads the cast of actors, which include Enno Trebs, Thomas Schubert, Jonas Dassler, and Langston Uibel.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A hot, dry summer, like so many in recent years. Forest fires are uncontrollable. Four young people meet in a holiday home on the Baltic Sea not far from Ahrenshoop. Slowly and imperceptibly they are enclosed by the walls of flame. A red sky arches over them. They doubt, they are afraid––not because of the fires. It is love that scares them: “Who dies when they love…!” They get closer, they desire, they love. Then there are the flames.
Petzold is the acclaimed director behind “Phoenix,” “Transit” and “Barbara.” I don’t think he’s ever done Cannes before, at least not to my knowledge. He’s very much a Berlinale name and it’s no big surprise that “Afire” is world premiering again on his home turf.
As the Berlin Film Festival starts winding down, “Afire” is turning into one of the films to watch from this year’s edition. Other competition highlights include Angela Schanalec’s “Music,” Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren‘s “20,000 species of Bees,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives” and Matt Johnson’s “BlackBerry.”