I am surprised there's not a thread for a thriller as recent and good as this. It's available via watch it now on Netflix. Spoilers and all that...
I suppose your mileage may vary depending on how the the noir/thriller elements, which include some level of predictability and contrivance, hit you. But, for me, it was all about the characters and how they functioned within that familiar framework. The film plays on our expectations, and the characters end up taking us places we might not expect to go.
Consider Susanne. The title appears rather ominously just after a shot of her looking out from her window on Robert mowing the lawn. Then, after we've presumably put that out of our minds, she informs her mother in law that Robert has some problems with potency. And after even more time, when we've let our guard down about what that could mean vis a vis Alex, and begin to assume that her trips to Hausner really are just an attempt to liven up the old guy, she surprises Alex (and us) by telling him to come around her place when Robert's gone. However the film doesn't go down the femme fatale route. Instead, by the time the story is finished, all indications point to Susanne doing what she did not because she had any ill will towards her husband, or was even bored with him. It seems as if she was just desperately trying to get pregnant again to give Robert something positive to latch on to after all his problems. For each character Spielmann finds a very human twist on a role that could be a tired cliche.
Alex is just as strong a case. As he chops wood on his grandfather's farm, the tension builds. With each cut of the saw or stroke of the hatchet we see a man closer and closer to violence. We get the sense that he is holding off on killing Richard until he is finished with his labor. Looking back, the fact that two or three times it seems like his grandfather has just passed away sort of becomes a running gag. It's Spielmann again playing with our expectations. If Hausner dies, then surely Alex will have nothing left to do but kill Richard. But Hausner keeps hanging on. (There is a wonderfully absurd bit with his accordion playing.)
But not only doesn't Alex go through with his plan for revenge, he also owns up to his part in Tamara's death. And on top of that, he discovers he wants to stay on the farm and keep working it, at least for the time being. All that tense wood chopping that signified murder throughout the entire film now takes on a whole different meaning. Again, a familiar framework resolved in an unexpected way using a very humanistic approach. And if the end is ambiguous, it leaves you with more of a sense of hope than dread. The film doesn't need to unravel into nihilistic violence or moral comeuppance.
I suppose your mileage may vary depending on how the the noir/thriller elements, which include some level of predictability and contrivance, hit you. But, for me, it was all about the characters and how they functioned within that familiar framework. The film plays on our expectations, and the characters end up taking us places we might not expect to go.
Consider Susanne. The title appears rather ominously just after a shot of her looking out from her window on Robert mowing the lawn. Then, after we've presumably put that out of our minds, she informs her mother in law that Robert has some problems with potency. And after even more time, when we've let our guard down about what that could mean vis a vis Alex, and begin to assume that her trips to Hausner really are just an attempt to liven up the old guy, she surprises Alex (and us) by telling him to come around her place when Robert's gone. However the film doesn't go down the femme fatale route. Instead, by the time the story is finished, all indications point to Susanne doing what she did not because she had any ill will towards her husband, or was even bored with him. It seems as if she was just desperately trying to get pregnant again to give Robert something positive to latch on to after all his problems. For each character Spielmann finds a very human twist on a role that could be a tired cliche.
Alex is just as strong a case. As he chops wood on his grandfather's farm, the tension builds. With each cut of the saw or stroke of the hatchet we see a man closer and closer to violence. We get the sense that he is holding off on killing Richard until he is finished with his labor. Looking back, the fact that two or three times it seems like his grandfather has just passed away sort of becomes a running gag. It's Spielmann again playing with our expectations. If Hausner dies, then surely Alex will have nothing left to do but kill Richard. But Hausner keeps hanging on. (There is a wonderfully absurd bit with his accordion playing.)
But not only doesn't Alex go through with his plan for revenge, he also owns up to his part in Tamara's death. And on top of that, he discovers he wants to stay on the farm and keep working it, at least for the time being. All that tense wood chopping that signified murder throughout the entire film now takes on a whole different meaning. Again, a familiar framework resolved in an unexpected way using a very humanistic approach. And if the end is ambiguous, it leaves you with more of a sense of hope than dread. The film doesn't need to unravel into nihilistic violence or moral comeuppance.
