Transit, is based on a novel by Anna Seghers, whose other novels were also turned into excellent films like 1944’s The Seventh Cross. Christian Petzold, wrote and directed this modernized version of Seghers’ Transit and despite the confusing beginning, the film is a thought provoking and mind bending script of twists and turns.
Franz Rogowski, a German version of Joaquin Phoenix plays the lead, a forlorn character, letting free will decide his fate in Fascist Europe. Paula Beer, who will also co-star with Franz in Petzold’s Undine, is Rogowski’s love interest.
The rub? Well, Paula’s searching for her husband who has not only disappeared, but is in possession of her papers to flee to Mexico. The thing I’ve noticed about many foreign films is that even the minor characters are quality (her for instance, the doctor Godehard Giese, deaf mother Maryam Zaree and child Lilien Batman) rounding out the movie and adding to its verisimilitude.
Definitely worth a watch, but unless you know from the get go that’s it’s the equivalent of a Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet, you’ll be totally confused.
And the open ending is fun to discuss.
Back to 2018 for one I missed: Transit
