Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Perla (2025) Rotterdam 2025


Perla is an artist living in West Germany with her daughter who is a musical prodigy. She had escaped Czechoslovakia in 1968 when the Russians invaded.  When the husband send her word that he is dying she and her daughter go back, risking arrest. The trouble is he as an ulterior motive for having them back.

I like a lot of this film and I'm kind of disappointed in other parts.

The early part of the film where we watch Perla and her daughter trying to survive and get along are very good. The performances are spot on. We can feel the desperation in simply trying to get by and manage money which always seems to be just out of reach. There are several small moments that really, the use of Bronski Beat, give the film a lived in quality. 

The problem is that the film is very much an art house film and the plot takes some turns that feel contrived. It's a feeling that is intensified by the direction, which looks great, but which seems to be going for intellectual truth over emotional. There was point where the film shifted from an organic narrative to one that seemed to be headed toward one I could guess.

While the film is never bad, the problem it never soars consistently as as high a it does in parts.

Worth a look, but it's not something you need chase down.

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