Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

RealDuality Phoenix is a movie with a simple yet exquisite plot-perfect for storytelling. A Holocaust survivor named Nelly, who was so disfigured that she had to have facial reconstruction surgery, returns to Berlin in the aftermath of the war. She doesn't recognize herself, and designs to find out if others have the same predicament. Nelly's desire is to find her husband Johnny, who may have betrayed her to the Nazis; but, it is more than just a detective story. It tactfully makes grand statements about what occurs in a society post-tragedy.Phoenix is the name of a club where she happens upon her former lover. If there romance had been uninterrupted, it could be a place where she sang while he played the piano. Now, when she approaches him, Johnny appears to not recognize Nelly, yet he comes up with a use for her. He makes a deal with his "newfound" acquaintance to obtain his wife's sizable inheritance. He will teach her to impersonate his wife, and they will split the money. Nelly agrees to the plan.When Nelly tells her survivor friend, Lene, what she has been up to, she is understandably horrified. She had no such reaction to Nelly's physical appearance at any time, but the idea to her that she is in a way back with her husband greatly upsets her. As the audience, our immediate reaction is to side with Lene, and see Nelly as the fragile one; however, the movie brilliantly turns preconceived notions we would have on its head.The central question is not did Johnny do it, but can love survive such tragic circumstances. When he talks about his former wife in instructing his new partner, it is evident that he stills feels for her; and, by the turmoil Nelly puts herself through, it is evident that she still feels for him. But, can such feelings overcome what one lover has possibly done to another? Can love exist in a world shaped by the Nazis?At one point, Nelly says, "I no longer exist." It is this concept she expresses that permeates the movie. We think of the victims of tragedy as having been shaped most by it, but the movie argues that it is not them that are principally changed so much as those who were "forced" to participate in crime. Nelly does exist, but it is a truth that society refuses to face. Johnny, and others we come across, have been transformed by their participation. He is more of a tragic character than she is.Lene is actually less strong than Nelly. Nelly searches for what still is, while she is stuck in the past. We come to learn that Nelly is the truly fearless person. She seeks to go on, but before she does that, she must find out where she fits. Phoenix not only works because it's carefully constructed, but also because the two central actors are great, which it requires. Nina Hoss as Nelly and Ronan Zehrfeld as Johnny deliver two of the best performances of the year. Without them, the story would seem like a fantasy.Nelly reminds me of Holocaust victims I have seen speak. She is not hateful; she is simply incessant that we come to the truth. Survivors are very grateful for the attention, and desire more than anything to have their story exist in our world. They want us to not turn our heads away, but to learn, so that such horrors do not reoccur. Our realization is how they can heal.

Martin Bradley "Phoenix" is the title of Christian Petzold's film and the phoenix who rises from the ashes is Nelly, a concentration camp survivor whose face has been so badly disfigured that it requires reconstruction. When it is reconstructed it is very much in the form of the original and yet her husband still doesn't recognize her. However, he sees a sufficient resemblance to get her to play the part of herself, his wife returned, as it were, from the dead simply to get his hands on her inheritance.Set immediately after the end of the Second World War Petzold's film works best as a thriller in the Hitchcock mold, (think "Vertigo"), rather than as a serious study of post-war German guilt. There are really only three main characters; Nelly, her husband, (Phoenix is also the name of the club where he works), and her friend who has brought her back to something resembling civilization. On a realistic level it's a little hard to swallow though the denouement is very nicely arrived at and Nina Hoss is excellent as Nelly. It's certainly worth seeing but I don't think it's quite the 'serious' picture critics have made it out to be.

manders_steve Set in post WW2 Germany, we have Nelly (Nina Hoss), a Polish Jewish nightclub singer who survives the concentration camps, a facial bullet wound, and reconstructive surgery. She manages to return to her family, where her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld) fails to recognise her. She plays a duplicitous game of intrigue and investigation, trying to determine if her husband had betrayed her to the Nazis. He plays similarly deceptive games, aiming to use the found Nelly as a substitute for his believed-to-be lost wife, to claim reparation for substantial assets stolen by the Nazis. Staged reunions, revelation of a possible last minute divorce – and then it ends. I thought it might have launched into a court based battle over identity, with a last minute plot twist of whether the divorce was valid, or even existed at all, making for a nail biter about whether the husband would share any prize money. This might have drawn some threads together and almost justified the premise that a husband wouldn't recognise his wife with some minor facial rearrangement. But no.Visually, it's really attractive, and most of the cast deliver their roles competently. But it's a flimsy house built on quicksand. On the plus side, it moves at a comfortable pace and wasn't boring. But I didn't find it convincing in the least.

eatlights A wonderful Hitchcockian-like drama that doesn't rush and takes its time telling its story. Beautifully shot and acted. After reading a number of IMDb reviews and after having watched this film I think it's extremely telling that in the main the American reviewers disliked the film and European reviewers got it and enjoyed it. If you have the attention span of a gnat and enjoy having your tale told to you in mile high letters like the majority of the dross Hollywood spits out you should avoid this film. If on the other hand you enjoy a tale well told then give this a go it is certainly worth your time and builds to an ending that will stay with you beyond the credits.