Recovery and rebirth

hof-4

Yves, a young boy, has just survived a car accident that killed the rest of his family; parents and two siblings. They were returning to Zürich from a trip to Alsace and the accident occurred in a road tunnel in unclear circumstances. The only close family remaining to Ives is a grandmother (Father's mother) and an aunt (Mother's sister).

Eliane, a psychologist, receives a late night telephone call from the hospital where she works asking for her help in assisting Ives. Eliane is in her forties/fifties and was married twice; her first husband died and she is separated from the second. Eliane has two daughters, one from the first marriage and a rebellious teenager from the second marriage. The three live together.

There are actually two parallel plots; one is the car accident that is gradually (and partially) reconstructed from Ives' traumatized memories. We also have hints on his life with the family; Ives' father was an astronomy enthusiast and the trip was to observe an eclipse. The other plot concerns Eliane's past and present life, of which we get hints from conversations among her, her daughters and other characters. The two plots join in the interaction between Yves and Eliane, which has profound consequences for both. There is an strange anticipation of their encounter; Ives' destination in Alsace was Colmar; Matthias Grünewald's Issenheim Altarpiece is in a museum in Colmar; Eliane wrote a dissertation on the psychological meaning of the Issenheim Altarpiece.

The subject lends itself to a sentimental treatment, but director Stephan Haupt has avoided this pitfall and, supported by good acting and an atmospheric cinematography has produced an excellent film. Music does its job well; quotes from Renaissance and Baroque works by John Sheppard and Nikolaus Bruhns add to the magic.

score 7/10

hof-4 3 June 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5796688/