Review: Afire

Image courtesy of The Match Factory.

Christian Petzold's "Afire" is interesting in that it causes its audience - well, at least, it did for me - to somewhat sympathize with its lead character, a writer named Leon (Thomas Schubert), while also realizing that all of the criticisms leveled at him by those around him are correct. 

Leon is struggling to complete a novel and has gone with a friend named Felix (Langston Uibel) to a country home owned by Felix's family to try to quietly do some work on it. Felix is also on a bit of an artistic retreat as he plans to work on his photography portfolio while in the secluded spot - but it appears that, similar to Ryan Gosling's Ken, all he wants to do is beach. Meanwhile, Leon awaits the arrival of Helmut (Matthias Brandt), his publisher, who will look over his manuscript.

But from the beginning of the trip, things don't go too well for Leon. For starters, the car in which he and Felix are driving breaks down, forcing them to hike through the woods to get to the cabin. Secondly, the news reports a series of dangerous wildfires that Felix notes are about 30 kilometers away from where they are staying.

To make matters worse - for Leon, at least - it turns out that a mysterious woman named Nadja (Petzold regular Paula Beer) will be sharing the cabin with them, forcing Leon and Felix to share a room. When Nadja's late night extracurricular activities prevent Leon from sleeping, he relocates outdoors and tries to sleep on a pool chair, only to be hilariously tormented by buzzing insects that land on his face.

Another character - Devid (Enno Trebs), a lifeguard at the nearby beach - is the other character involved in the loud sex keeping Leon up at night. However, he soon becomes involved with Felix instead - there's a funny scene in which Leon awakens to noise for the second or third time and realizes that he's now sharing a room with Nadja. 

All the while, Leon feels like the odd - and grouchy - one out. Once Helmut arrives, things only get worse as his publisher appears more interested in Nadja's studies and Felix's portfolio than Leon's novel, which also gets panned by Nadja after he reluctantly allows her to read it. As I'd mentioned, it's a little difficult not to feel bad for Leon, considering his inability to complete his work due to the distractions as well as the blows to his ego from everyone giving his novel the thumbs down.

On the other hand, Leon also comes across as egotistical and, on occasion, a jerk. When Nadja apologizes for the loud late night sex, Leon isn't quick to warm to her. He doesn't notice the burgeoning romance between Devid and Felix, prompting Nadja to point out that he's unaware of what's going on around him due to his only thinking of himself. This is more pronounced later when he fails to recognize Helmut's health issues. Leon also belittles Devid during a conversation about his profession.

Petzold is one of - or, perhaps, the - best director working in Germany today. His breakthrough, "Barbara," was a solid political drama period piece, while "Phoenix" was a beguiling World War II-set mystery and "Undine" was a strange and mysterious movie with fantastical elements. However, "Transit," a film that riffed on "Casablanca" but had a particular modern urgency to it, was his finest work and one of 2019's best films. 

"Afire" might seem, on the surface, a more minor work - and it certainly has a more laid back vibe than "Transit" or "Phoenix" - but it's still a compelling and often funny film about a person with lots of room to grow eventually finding the capacity to do so (or maybe not, depending on your take on the film's final scenes). There's a bit of tragedy toward the end of "Afire," and a somewhat mysterious final sequence. The film takes a little patience, but those willing to give it will likely be rewarded.