"Lore" (2013)

I've always found it fascinating that some of the most damning examinations of Germany's actions in World War II put to film are so often in German films, but then again often people are their own harshest critics. Lore isn't entirely about the atrocities committed by Germany but it's a major lingering theme, especially during the mid-third of the film. We typically think of the conclusion of WWII as this glorious thing where all the evils of the war were suddenly put to bed, but as most lore passed down through the ages this sugar coats the fact that post-war environments are nightmares, as much carry overs of the wartime hostility, confusion and indvidual struggle as recovering peacetime reprieves. Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) must traverse the fraught post-war landscape with her siblings to find safety with relatives in Hamburg. Her parents were part of the Nazi party and therefore are taken away. As Germans have become suspect by the Allies since occupation, making it to their destination involves taking indirect and problematic paths towards salvation. In the wake of the war's conclusion, a power vacuum forms with everyone taking advantage of the semi-lawlessness on the fringes. Lore and her family encounter weirdos, rapists, thieves and opportunists of every variety. The most significant indvidual they come across is a man named Thomas (Kai Malina) who appears to be a Jew but chooses to aid them in spite of this, using his papers to make it more easily past soldiers. The film's finest material derives from the interplay between the Thomas and Lore. She's torn between her anti-Semitic feelings ingrained into her and the remarkable kindness the man demonstrates. There's not entirely simple kindness from the man however; a fair amount of weird, complicated sexual tension builds between the two -- much of it foisted on her begrudgingly and against her will. While the obvious suggestion over the loss of innocence during war is present (never more bluntly than towards the end of the film), the film is really more about the generally hellish nature of war. Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw gives the film a lovely bluish-greenish hue (reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan), which gives it the requisite period piece vibe, but the film's look, especially when setting its eye on the ambiance of the ravaged and natural landscape, is more often like a sleepy, feverish dream, almost unreal. This is fitting as so much of what takes place, amplified by being witnessed by children and individuals just on the cusp of adulthood, is unfathomable and disturbing.

 ★★★