Der Traumhafte Weg

In her eighth feature film, Angela Schanelec, Germany's mistress of minimalism, stays true to herself and her idiosyncratic style, which has less to do with slowing everything down, as is often suggested, but rather more with radical stringency: Whole relationships are told in no more than a few glances and words. The brilliantly composed images and the gorgeous cinematic beauty nonetheless create a narrative flow that rewards all those who have kept their mind open for alternative forms of narration in film. The plot then is nothing more than a suggestive kaleidoscope of details and moments: In Greece in the 80s, the young German woman Theres falls in love with the English musician Kenneth, who has to go home suddenly and leave her alone there. 30 years later in today's Berlin, the stories of these two yet again correlate, framed by the marriage crisis of middle-aged actress Ariane. This movie is indeed a dream-like path through time, feelings and fates, where the smallest and quietest moments often are the most dramatic.