Frantz

Paula Beer is riveting. You can't take your eyes off her because of her beauty, her walk, her determination, tinges of joy; and you are in suspense as to what she will do next. In other circumstances, she could radiate happiness and humor. But in this film's post-war grind of anger, tradition and prejudice she's stiffled at every turn. The film makers succeeded in their bleak goal, but at how great a cost (to the moviegoer)? Why make such a dreary movie? I want to see Beer unstiffled. Put her in a movie to show her off!

This film is an engrossing story of life after tragedy, the fragility of the human spirit and journey for redemption. War and death set the impossible journey back to a normal life for the survivors. Lost loved one, Frantz, is the center of drama. As perfectly mounted a production as you can find of late, the use of color as remembrance and stark grays and black and white for the present is just one of the design features. Music and the two spoken languages, German and French, art and song are elegant devices of this story. The morose period in both German and French life of this post WWI era wraps the characters n the sorrows and losses of the horrors of war. Yet, the story travels by the heartbeat of the characters, pain assuaged by hope, gloom erased by tenderness. Frantz's grave so central to the story empty of his body, but the sacred place where all honor the dead Frantz whose corpse was buried in a mass unmarked grave somewhere on a battlefield in a distant land. The grave, flowers atop, as empty are the lives of the survivors who have to live on without Frantz, without the centrality of love unless Anna can move on with another man. That man, tormented Adrien, Frantz's friend from France. And here the drama turns on Adrien's secret from the war he lived through. By now, this love story is not romance. It is about expiation. Forgiveness frees the both the guilty and the forgiver. It is a piece of divine grace to give back life to the forgiven. Anna must face that choice. Or succumb to the despair and leave life for others. Like Adrien, she journeys to the other land to seek her own salvation. A risk you must wonder until the final frames to judge was worth taking. This is excellent, 4.75 stars. Story, design, acting,direction,cinematography, mounted so well. Board the train and travel into the life of Frantz.

I ended up with a headache trying to figure out what this movie was about. And the Q&A made it even worse because it's impossible to understand what the movie director was saying.