A tragic comedy with Tom Hanks, a thriller from South Korea, a drama from the Black Forest and frightening pictures from Syria - these are the theatrical releases this week.
No one can do everything alone: "A man named Otto"
US actor and producer Tom Hanks uses well-known material for his new film. The Swedish author Fredrik Backman published a bestseller in 2012 with "A Man Called Ove". Three years later there was already a Swedish film adaptation of Hannes Holm. Now follows the American.
The story is about Otto Anderson (Hanks), a curmudgeon who no longer sees any meaning in his life after the death of his wife. Otto is an aging pedant. He controls the waste separation, refers to regulations, lives within clearly defined rules. When a vibrant young family moves in across the street, he is challenged to see life through different eyes.
A Man Named Otto, USA 2022, 126 min., FSK 12, by Marc Forster, with Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Love and Sci-Fi: "Out of My Skin"
Magical realism, science fiction - or just an incredible love story? "Out of my skin" doesn't fit into any drawer. Leyla (Mala Emde) and Tristan (Jonas Dassler) travel to a remote island. There, numerous couples come together to see the world through the eyes of another person. Because on the island it is possible to swap bodies. So it is that Leyla's childhood friend Stella is in her father's (Edgar Selge) body. Leyla and Tristan switch bodies with another couple.
What initially sounds like an exciting experiment is much more. Because the perception in the foreign body not only changes the external behavior, but also the attitude towards life. And then Leyla doesn't want to go back to her old "I".
Aus meine Haut, Germany 2022, 103 minutes, FSK from 12, by Alex Schaad, with Mala Emde, Jonas Dassler, Maryam Zaree, Dimitrij Schaad, Edgar Selge
"Woman in the Mist": Thriller by Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook is one of the great masters of South Korean cinema. The 59-year-old is known for his elegant, dark thrillers, which are often underlaid with subtle irony. This is also the case in his new film "The Woman in the Fog", which won the director's prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 - a visual masterpiece.
The thriller tells the story of police officer Chang Hae-joon (Park Hae-il). He investigates an alleged accidental death and feels attracted to the victim's widow, Tang Wei (Song Seo-rae). Chang Hae-joon gets more and more involved in the case. Tang Wei soon becomes the focus of the investigation - and the policeman finds it difficult to distinguish himself.
The Woman in the Mist, South Korea 2022, 138 minutes, R16+, by Park Chan-wook, starring Tang Wei, Park Hae-il
Drama: "When will you kiss my wounds"
"When are you coming to kiss my wounds" by Hanna Doose tells the story of four old friends who meet again after a long time on a lonely farm in the Black Forest. Then old conflicts break out.
Laura (Gina Henkel) and Jan (Alexander Fehling) recently moved from Berlin to a lonely farm in the Black Forest. Her friend Kathi (Katarina Schröter) also lives there, who is terminally ill and doesn't want to go to therapy. The everyday life of the three gets mixed up when Kathi's sister Maria (Bibiana Beglau) arrives by motorbike from Berlin. In the luggage a few drugs and money problems. How do I want to live? who makes me happy Questions like these are negotiated in the drama.
When are you coming to kiss my wounds, Germany 2022, 115 minutes, FSK from 16, by Hanna Doose, with Bibiana Beglau, Gina Henkel, Katarina Schröter, Alexander Fehling
"The Lost Souls of Syria": Prison Torture and the Slow Justice
Half-naked corpses in the dust, numbered and photographed on behalf of Syria's security services: The photos of the Syrian defector "Caesar", who smuggled 27,000 torture pictures abroad, gave the world public shocking evidence of the crimes in the civil war-torn country.
"The Lost Souls of Syria" by Stéphane Malterre and Garance Le Caisne documents years of attempts to bring the case to court in Europe. "Caesar" himself, who secretly copied the pictures and who is now regarded as public enemy number one in Syria, also has his say anonymously.
The film sometimes makes you hesitate as to what is more depressing: the brutality of Syria's torture apparatus or the powerlessness of the international judiciary.
The Lost Souls of Syria, F/D, 99 minutes, FSK 16+, by Stéphane Malterre and Garance Le Caisne
