Marseille

Marseille is a typical Schanelec film. She may very well be the only German film maker of her generation with an outspoken style of her own and a clearly defined oeuvre. Her films do not always make it easy for viewers due to their frugality, but the self-imposed limitations also engender respect. After a series of impressive films, she is still not very well-known and that is completely unjustified. Schanelec tells her story within a very realistic setting that she then portrays in a very stylised way. Much remains unspoken and if there is any dialogue, it appears to avoid the underlying theme quite deliberately. This approach seems to evoke an unease that can be significant in real life, but is absent from most cinema. A powerful element in Schanelec’s film making is her approach with actors. Schanelec is herself a trained actress and in fact all her films revolve around the actors. She creates a sea of space that compels the actors to meaningful smallness. Marseille tells the story of the unease of Sophie, a young photographer who swaps her room in Berlin for no apparent reason with a student from Marseilles. Her attempts to conquer the recalcitrant and wintry city of Marseilles are laborious. She doesn’t really make any contact with anybody apart from the young car mechanic Pierre. But she is not unhappy. Back in Berlin, it soon becomes clear to her why she wanted to leave. She’d better get back to Marseilles. (GjZ)