As per the MIFF guide: “Leon escapes to the coast to work on his second novel, accompanied by his friend Felix, who has grand plans for his art-school portfolio. Expecting solitude, they’re instead met with company in the form of bubbly Nadja, who leaves the cottage each morning and invites her local lover over in the evenings. As surrounding wildfires threaten to encroach on their languid retreat, so too do the suffocating pressures of creative unrest and social insecurity bear down on Leon’s malaise. Group dynamics shift, attraction builds and, all the while, a sense of foreboding hangs around like a cloud of smoke.”
My most anticipated film at this year's MIFF was Christian Petzold's latest “Afire”, which also turned out to be the very first film I saw at the film festival this year. Personally, I like to build into a festival, so having the one movie I was most looking forward to first up, I didn't think was ideal. However, we obviously have no say when certain films are playing; you just have to see them when you can, and in the end it was a perfect way to start MIFF, having a fantastic film right from the get-go to build the anticipation of what was still to come.
Once again Christian Petzold has shown to the world just how great a director he is with “Afire”. Right from the opening frame of the film, his direction felt effortless; the consistency in his work that he has shown throughout his career, but particularly from “Barbara” onward, is phenomenal. Like always, I felt like I was in the hands of a master filmmaker whilst watching “Afire”, as he is able to construct an involving social drama, that is also very funny at times, while having his film anchored with something that could be a death knell to a lesser director, and that is a very unsympathetic lead character. Let's get this out of the way, Leon is an utter douche bag; he is so self involved, so self-important, totally inept in social situations, while also being jealous of those who find these situations easier to be in then himself, and he is nowhere near the talented writer he thinks he is. When the first trailer for “Afire” dropped, it was very apparent that Leon was going to be unlikable, but what I was really worried about was if he would turn you off the film itself because of this. Somehow, this not only doesn't happen, but Petzold actually gets you to care for the guy at the same time you are rolling your eyes at him. So often you just want to slap Leon and get him to wake up, get him to remove his head from his own arse, so he could notice exactly what was happening in front of him, and through all this, I still found myself caring for the douche and worrying about the things he was going through. No doubt, actor Thomas Schubert deserves a lot of the credit here in creating a performance that exposes Leon's insecurities and flaws as a person, but doesn't go too far over the edge where we hate the poor guy.
It probably also helps that the majority of his scenes are played opposite Paula Beer, Petzold's current muse, who returns for her third consecutive film with the director. She is outstanding in her role as Nadja, so light, free and full of life, almost like the opposite of Leon. She lives in the moment, finding enjoyment wherever she can, but at the same time she is also a serious academic. You may find yourself wondering why she is drawn towards Leon, or why she wants to help him, but her offer of help is genuine, which is ultimately wasted by Leon. When he does finally decide to show Nadja his manuscript of his second novel, “Club Sandwich”, I'm sure he is expecting her to praise it, even if it is insincere praise, but he is shocked when she is brutally honest with him calling the novel “shit”, and telling him that he knows this, and also that she knows he could do better. The relationship between Nadja and Leon is very complex, and essentially the backbone of the film, as it is constantly evolving (and at times devolving), but at all times you can see that Nadja only wants to help Leon to become both a better writer and person, someone who can actually live in the moment. As I mentioned above, Beer is so naturalistic in her performance, that you cannot help but love her character.
Christian Petzold stated that he wanted to make a “summer” movie with “Afire”, where characters are together, enjoying the sun and water, and each other. After the Covid years where the world shut down, Petzold said that he needed to see people interacting again, and at times because of this “Afire” feels like a hang-out movie, where we just exist with the characters, listening in on their conversations and such. The film drifts, building very slowly, that you could almost be excused for thinking that the film is going nowhere, but which could not be further from the truth, as it all wraps up in the most brilliant ending that is particularly poignant due to everything that has come before it. Unlike most modern filmmakers, Petzold is fantastic at finding the perfect ending to his stories, or the perfect moment to end a film on. I cannot stress enough just how many films fall apart these days when they get to their end, but Christian Petzold never seems to have this problem, and “Afire” has yet another brilliant ending, with the image of some hands being incredibly powerful.
One of the most impressive things about “Afire” is its regular tonal shifts, both in the film as a whole, or even within a single scene. At times the pace of a moment can feel languid and quiet, before suddenly tensions rise, or we find ourselves laughing out of the blue (often laughing at Leon's ego and inflated value of self). It all feels very real and of the moment, rather than something that has been falsely manufactured. There is also the element of the surrounding bushfires which, although start far away, soon begin to get closer, and we can feel the tension and unease this causes amongst the group.
As usual Hans Fromm's cinematography is naturalistic and very beautiful, often relying on the bright summer sun to light things, or the fire in the distance to tint the visuals red. The beach scenes particularly are gorgeous. One element that I think is less successful though is the ability to express the extreme heat that the characters are having to deal with. Heat is so hard to portray successfully in movies, with probably only “Do The Right Thing” and “Body Heat” being the most successful at portraying it on film. We constantly hear from the characters just how hot it is, but I do not think it translates perfectly in the images (but this is a minor nitpick). I mentioned the fire above, and just want to briefly highlight two moments involving the fire that I thought were both terrifying and superb. The first is a night scene when the characters are on the roof of the holiday house just drinking when it appears to start raining. One of them quickly realises that it isn't rain but actually ash falling from the nearby fires. It is a powerful moment as you feel that this is the first time the group actually thinks they could be in some danger. The other moment is when Leon is running through the nearby forest, and he hears a rumbling, before a family of wild pigs burst out running, on fire, fleeing for their lives. The fire then roars up the hill near where Leon is standing, in what is the film's most terrifying image and moment.
Overall, although it was not a surprise, I ended up loving Christian Petzold's “Afire”, and even though it was the very first film I saw at this year's MIFF, it also remained my favourite of the festival. I have barely scratched the surface of “Afire” in this review (I haven't even mentioned the two other main characters that help form the friendship group with Leon and Nadja), so there will be plenty to experience for those of you who end up watching it. It is a sensational film filled with complex characters and relationships, but breaking it down to its base element, “Afire” is really about a man learning to live in the moment, not taking himself too seriously and take notice of what is in front of him, which if he begins to learn these lessons, will see him become a better writer and human being in general. “Afire” is another fantastic film from Christian Petzold, one of the best and most consistent directors working in world cinema today. Highly recommended to everyone!
4 Stars.
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