Plot and story are intimately connected yet not always the same thing. A film can have a great story but a weak plot, or a great plot and weak story. Some films are not concerned with plot at all, but rather telling a story. It is then that one can focus on how well the story is told, exactly “how” the story is told and what themes are present, as well as how well drawn and effective the characters are within that frame. Sound of Falling, the new film from Mascha Schilinski is one such work. Telling the story of a family and the generations of women who live in a single, isolated farm house in northern Germany, the film channels elements of both Bergman and Reitz, yet is absolutely its own thing.
Courtesy Mubi
This is a film unconcerned with what mass audiences expect from a film telling a story about groups of women or generational epics. Here, time and memory fold back in on one another, crashing like waves on the bank of the local lakes and rivers. There is pain and mystery, love and longing, loneliness and fear. It is, at times, about the lies we tell ourselves to cope with trauma, and how that trauma infects those that follow after.
This is a film set across four generations, each distinct yet bound to one another. They all experience similar events, revolving around death and awakenings. There are many scenes of women ruminating on their lot in life, and much of the film is an expression of sexual, mental and domestic abuse. It is, at the same time, as much an indictment on the plight of women as it is on the ways in which Germany abused and ignored its people and others throughout the last one hundred years.
The film is expressionistic and impressionist. It has naturalism and surrealism. There are hints of magical realism, all mixing together to create a potent stew. There is a lot of death in this film, ruminations on mortality and escape. Oppression is ever present, in many forms. Each character has choices to make, which often are between one horrible fate or the other.
Courtesy Mubi
Other directors have worked in these regions of storytelling before, including Bergman and Reitz. Here, Schilinski borrows the cool eye and epic yet intimate approach of Reitz, with the heady mix of human and religious questioning found in Bergman. This is yet a very feminine film, full of anger and longing for escape. The best and quietest moments are often those between two women talking, sharing secrets, or even those without dialogue, when the painterly photography by Fabian Gamper takes over. Indeed, Gamper’s photography, along with the costuming, makes the period work appear at times like photos or illustrations from the era they depict.
Sound of Falling is not an easy film, and is one which will reward multiple viewings, because it is so dense. This is not a criticism. This is a work of art, not unlike Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, and like that great novel, this is a richly rewarding experience. It is a film filled with complicated and often conflicting emotions. This is also a film where you may not recall character’s names but you will remember what happened to them, how they felt and especially their faces.
Courtesy Mubi
There is a mystery to the proceedings, almost a magical realism, which keeps a viewer glued and uneasy. A very calm dread pervades the film. Each image and sequence is full of meaning, both literal, metaphorical and perhaps allegorical. It is not an easy film, but it is one of the most rewarding of the year. Patience is key. Give yourself over to the experience and you will be rewarded.
Sound of Falling opens in select theaters on Friday, January 16th.
This looks lovely