I recently saw Phoenix, a moving film based on themes central to my Mischilnge Exposé, and wanted to share a few quotes from the article included in the DVD booklet that resonated with me.
From "Just Be Yourself," by Michael Koresky:
"Phoenix is a German film preoccupied with how war forever changes personal and national identities."
"With her entire family dead, her Gentile husband having abandoned her, and her face disfigured, Nelly is essentially without identity. As the film will go to demonstrate, however, identity is never fixed. Does Nelly consider herself a German or a Jew? Is she her own person or somebody's wife?"
"Other tensions are of a more spiritual nature: When will Nelly accept the possibility of a future untethered to her past? How will she truly identify herself? All of this is in aid of a story that is at its core about the lies we tell to ourselves, and about ourselves, so that we can function within societal structures..."
Powerful film!!
Read the whole article here: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4031-phoenix-just-be-yourself
Watch the trailer: