Yella (2007)

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  May 22, 2008

  dunmyer

  [font=Georgia][size=3]"Yella," from German writer/director [/size][size=3][b]Christian Petzold,[/b] [/size][size=3]is one of the most unusual and unique films I've ever seen. It has an aesthetic that really is one of a kind. Even the title is strange. The whole look and feel were... read more so new, that it was revitalizing, like a new cinematic approach was being born.[/size][/font]
  
  [img]http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/images/stories/yella1.jpg[/img]
  
  [font=Georgia][size=3]The story also had some fascinating and innovative dimensions that knocked my socks off. But unfortunately the story also had some hackneyed qualities, especially the ridiculously cliche ending. It's amazing to me that a ferociously innovative story would end on such a clumsily cliche note. I also felt bored through quite a number of passages. Tighter editing would have helped.[/size][/font]
  
  [font=Georgia][size=3]It was sad to me that a film with some truly masterpiece moments also was bogged down with some long-winded and repetitious sequences. But how often do you see a film that even has one masterpiece moment? "Yella" had about 10. [/size][/font]
  
  [img]http://www.germany.info/relaunch/info/publications/week/2007/071012/Photos/yella.jpg[/img]
  
  [font=Georgia][size=3]"Yella" also has the spine-tingling actress [b]Nina Hoss[/b]. Wow, where did this woman come from? She's almost as spectacular as Asia Argento, that other European lioness of film acting today. While ultimately I would put Argento ahead of Hoss, there's something Hoss has that Argento lacks. That's an intellectual consciousness. Argento is pure instinct. Hoss is instinct harnessed by mind. She knows what she's doing in a way that gave me shivers.[/size][/font]
  
  [font=Georgia][size=3]Hoss most definitely is an actress to watch, and Petzold is a major filmmaker bursting forth with cinematic ideas. I'm thrilled that I got the opportunity to see one of his films, and I wait with bated breath to see what he does next.[/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3][/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3]The storyline is difficult to talk about without giving away the twist ending, which I'm loath to do in a review. I'll just say that the film is a meditation on the struggles of the East Germans to join the capitalist order. That's at least what I believe it is mostly concerned with. I'm not absolutely sure the characters are from the east, because the film doesn't make it absolutely clear. But I'm pretty sure they are. [/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3][/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3]At the center of the film is a woman named Yella. I've never heard of that name before. Is it a common German name? It sounded almost Gypsy to me. Or a Russian nickname. In any case, this woman named Yella (played by Hoss) is struggling to establish herself as an accountant, and jobs appear to be very hard to come by. [/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3][/size][/font]
  [font=Georgia][size=3]Her job search has an almost Alice in Wonderland quality to it. She's lost in a world beyond the looking glass, so foreign are the ways of business to her. But the film has no comic dimension. Her struggles are depicted brutally. It's a painful film, especially given Hoss's remarkable ability to make you identify with her character. When she experiences heartbreak, it's truly excruciating to watch. And she gets it in spades.[/size][/font]

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• 
  
  February 6, 2010

  gator681

  Even with an obvious conclusion, "Yella" is still a compelling movie, simply told, with a quietly strong performance from Nina Hoss as the title character, a young woman seeking to make a new start for herself in Hannover. First, she returns to her hometown for a night to get a ... read morechange of clothes and to tell her father(Christian Redl) that she got a job and a place to stay. But the past will not leave her alone in the person of Ben(Hinnerk Schonemann), her very estanged husband and a failed businessman, who follows her around before offering her a ride to the train station the following morning. Seeing no harm, wishing to be polite and get it over with, Yella accepts. That turns out to be a huge mistake as he berates her, does not let her get out of the car and even tries to kill them both by driving over the side of a bridge. She survives to go to Hannover, a journey that will encapsulate all the fears and hopes of her new life.

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  March 17, 2010

  alanjayh

  not to be confused with the 50s classic "Old Yella", this movie purposely feels somewhat like a dream (or nightmare), where everything seems a bit out of balance. The acting is fine but I guessed the ending about 15 minutes into the film---I have seen similar movies recently wit... read moreh the same storyline and 'surprise ending'. Still a decent watch...

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• 
  
  March 21, 2009

  mvieaddict

  'Christian Petzold 's drama deals with a woman, who leaves her hometown for a promising job and a new life, but is haunted by the truths of the past. As her marriage to Ben broke and her professional career has no future in her native town in the Eastern part of Germany, Yella ha... read mores decided to search for a job in the West. When she gets to know Philipp, a smart executive at a private equity company in Hanover, she becomes his assistant and gets involved into the world of ruthless and big business. Realizing her dreams could come true with Philipp's help, she starts hearing voices and sounds from her past, which menace her new and better life.
  
  
  The movie is well-shot, but in no way does that compensate for a future story. The problem is that there is no good direction in the film. I don't know what she's running away from, nor do I know where she is heading. Usually, not knowing where the film is going is something I can enjoy, but here, it all seems pointless.
  
  The opening scene, where Ben follows Yella in his car does set a tone, but I think it does not explain why Yella wants to move away from him. At two points Ben breaks into her hotel room. One plot hole, at least to me, was how on earth did he manage to get into her hotel room? I doubt he just walked up to the reception and asked for the key. Yella doesn't seem to do anything further about it: she doesn't ask for her room to be changed, or even seek advice from anyone.
  
  Yella's new job' isn't explained well either, all I know is that there are negotiations, and envelopes of money are exchanged. To some extent, this is acceptable, because Yella isn't given any good explanation of what's happening. But, considering how much of the film seems to take place in boardrooms, a little revelation of what is actually going on would've been appreciated.
  
  When Yella proclaims her love to Phillip, I lost any sympathy for her, because it is obvious that she is the typical weak female, falling for 'the bad guy', and she doesn't even try to change her fate. After leaving her husband, who was stalking her, she falls Phillip,another bad guy who steals money from his employer, and so she seems to hope that all of a sudden life will become better?? Oh, Common...
  
  Poor, very poor German film.

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• Nina Hoss as Yella Fichte
• Devid Striesow as Philipp
• Hinnerk Schonemann as Ben
• Burghart Klau??ner as Dr. Gunthen
• Barbara Auer as Barbara Gunthen
• Christian Redl as Yella's Father
• Selin Barbara Petzold as Dr. Gunthen's Daughter
• Wanja Mues as Sprenger
• Michael Wittenborn as Schmitt-Ott

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