Film Review: In Times Of Fading Light
In Times Of Fading Light, screening as part of the Palace Cinema’s German Film Festival, is a black bittersweet dramedy about loss, betrayal and hanging on longer than we should
I love European film, and admittedly have a leaning towards French, Italian and Spanish cinema for the most. Which isn’t to say I haven’t enjoyed film fare from the rest of Europe, or the Scandos, who have been producing some brilliant stuff of late.
But Germany?
Admittedly, I haven’t seen too much German film outside of the work of Wim Wenders, and Oliver Hirschbiegell epic ‘Downfall’, a film many will remember as one of the first mainstream pieces by a German filmmaker to tackle head on Germany’s Nazi past in brutally honest fashion to maximum effect.
With this lack of exposure to Germanic film, I went into In Times Of Fading Light (IN ZEITEN DES ABNEHMENDEN LICHTS) not having read the highly-acclaimed novel of the same name, and thus with few expectations.
The year is 1989 and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is in its fading twilight. The true believers cling to the past, fighting against the tsunami of change that will soon reunite Germany, ripping down the Berlin Wall and sweeping the German communists away into the recesses of history.
Wilhelm Powliet (Bruni Ganz) is staunchly part of this past. It is his 90th birthday, and while this hardcore Stalinist and much-lauded comrade of the GDR’s health might still be considered as ‘rude’ as his attitude, not only his country coming apart at the seams, so is his family. Regardless, those gathered for this momentous occasion must go through the motions, celebrating Wilhelm’s life while at the same time before forced to examine core aspects of their own.
While Ganz deserves much praise for playing 15 years his senior in the lead, the standout for me in Matti Geschonneck’s adaptation was Hildegard Schmahl, playing his disillusioned wife. She manages to capture beautifully not just the burden of watching a loved one slowly age towards their ultimate demise, but also the revelations we must sometimes face of life taking us to places so often not always of our choosing. In fact, it is the women who steal this ensemble piece more generally, with Evgenia Dodina another stand out playing Wilhelm’s alcoholic daughter-in-law Irina, and ultimately a cypher for the final fall of the GDR.
What I love most about In Times Of Fading Light is that it took me to a time and place of such historical significance, reminding me of how huge an event the fall of the Wall was, humanising via a small story the bigger story at hand.
I also appreciated the performances put in by the cast more generally, directed well by Geschonneck in slow-paced Chekhovian fashion, allowing minor moments to be teased out to excellent effect.
Ultimately, however, I left the film hungry for something more, with a sense that this might have been a great opening episode for TV series that took the story further, something the short epilogue gave us a taste of but that made me feel more frustrated than satiated.
