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Afire

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Afire
Theatrical release poster
GermanRoter Himmel
Directed byChristian Petzold
Screenplay byChristian Petzold
Produced by
  • Florian Koerner von Gustorf
  • Michael Weber
  • Anton Kaiser
Starring
  • Thomas Schubert
  • Paula Beer
  • Langston Uibel
  • Enno Trebs
CinematographyHans Fromm
Edited byBettina Böhler
Production
company
  • Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser
Distributed by
  • The Match Factory GmbH
  • Piffl Medien
Release dates
  • 22 February 2023 (2023-02-22) (Berlinale)
  • 20 April 2023 (2023-04-20) (Germany)
Running time
103 minutes
Country
  • Germany
LanguageGerman
Box office$2.1 million[1]

Afire (German: Roter Himmel, lit. 'Red Sky') is a 2023 German drama film directed by Christian Petzold, starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel and Enno Trebs. The relationship drama focuses on four people sharing a holiday home on the Baltic Sea.[2][3]

The film won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize[4] at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 22 February 2023.[5] It was released theatrically in Germany on 20 April 2023.[6] In August 2023, it was shortlisted as the German submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for the 96th Academy Awards.[7]

Plot

[edit]

Friends Felix and Leon are driving to Felix's family holiday home on the Baltic Sea not far from Ahrenshoop when their car breaks down. After walking through the forest with their luggage, they arrive at the house to find it unexpectedly inhabited by Nadja, whose presence is obvious though they do not meet her. Her romantic trysts keep them up at night, causing Leon to resent her. Over the course of their vacation forests fires are mentioned, first distantly, then approaching.

Leon spends his time fussing over the manuscript of his second novel, while Felix is less hurried about completing his photography portfolio. Within a couple days, they have both met Nadja, who is kind and accommodating. Despite this, Leon continues to be frustrated by her. Meanwhile, Felix strikes up a friendship with her and her lover, Devid, a lifeguard at the nearby beach.

The emotions among the four intensify as Leon broods and resists interacting with the others. Felix and Devid develop a romantic and sexual relationship. Nadja offers friendship to Leon but he struggles to accept it. After much consternation, he decides to grant her request to read his manuscript, which she finds inferior and she tells him that he knows its poor quality. Leon does not take this well and isolates himself for the rest of the evening.

When Leon's publisher Helmut arrives so they can review the manuscript together, Leon grows even more despondent as Helmut connects more with Felix, Devid, and especially Nadja, who is revealed to be a doctoral candidate in literature, not the seasonal hotel employee Leon thought. After a dinner that is tense for Leon and enjoyable for the rest, the forest fires are close enough that ash begins to fall just as Devid and Felix finally leave to retrieve their abandoned car. Helmut suffers a medical emergency. Nadja is quick to act, driving Helmut's tiny rental car to the hospital. Leon follows on foot. On the way, he sees wild boar fleeing the fire. After watching a boar die, the fire begins to crest the hill and he runs. In darkness, he reaches the hospital to join Nadja, asleep on a bench.

When they wake in the morning and find Helmut, he shares private moments with both of them. Nadja asks about his health, which he has lied about so as not to trouble them, and informs him of Leon's distress. Helmut comforts Leon, advising him to abandon his work-in-progress but assuring him of eventual success. Helmut promises to help him as long as his condition allows.

On the walk back to the house, Nadja offers Leon comfort which Leon angrily rejects, leading Nadja to castigate him for his self-centeredness before leaving him alone on the beach. Remorseful, he follows her back to the house where he begins to confess romantic feelings for her, just as she sees two police officers in the backyard. Nadja approaches them and they inform her that Devid and Felix were found burned to death by the fires.

Nadja and Leon go to see their bodies and see their charred corpses intertwined in death. Nadja has a profound emotional reaction, but Leon cannot absorb the reality, instead thinking about other coupled corpses throughout history, such as those found at Pompeii. She leaves without him, and by the time he reaches the vacation house she has left. He goes to the beach and sobs, looking at the bioluminescence in the sea, something he had refused to do earlier.

Some time later, Leon is in Helmut's hospital room as Helmut reads Leon's new manuscript back to him, a work of autofiction based on the time he shared with Felix, Nadja, and Devid. Together they look at photos Felix took that summer which Helmut wants to use as accompanying artwork for the novel. Helmut has Leon leave when a medic appears to administer a treatment. Waiting outside, Leon sees Nadja arriving, presumably to visit Helmut. He steps out from hiding and the two share a moment of mutual recognition.

Cast

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Production

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In October 2020, Christian Petzold revealed his next film, a gay love story. He revealed that he wants to make a series of films loosely inspired by the classical elements of water, earth, fire and air. Starting with Undine in 2020, a tale of water nymph, fire will rise for Afire.[3][8] The film was shot from 28 June 2022 to 17 August 2022 in Ahrenshoop.[3]

Release and reception

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Afire had its premiere on 22 February 2023 as part of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, in competition. It was released in cinemas on 20 April 2023.[6] The film also made it to 'Perlak' section of the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival held from 22 to 30 September 2023.[9]

Christian Petzold, with the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for Afire

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[10] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]

Nicholas Bell in IonCinema.com graded the film 3.5/5 and wrote, "the real pleasure is in Petzold’s writing of his characters, and there’s an oddly satisfying authenticity to the discomforts and aggressions caused by Leon’s pretension-as-self-defense moments."[12] Ben Croll reviewing for IndieWire graded the film B− and wrote, "Petzold tries to take the air out of a pompous windbag, and more often than not succeeds to delightful and caustic effect."[13] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film with 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The tonal change is not really convincing, and I wished that the film's potential for lighter comedy had been developed more. Even so, it’s a strong performance from Schubert.[14]

Accolades

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Award Date Category Recipient Result Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival 25 February 2023 Golden Bear Christian Petzold Nominated [15][4]
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize Won
Sydney Film Festival 18 June 2023 Best Film Afire Nominated [16]
European Film Awards 9 December 2023 Best European Actor Thomas Schubert Nominated [17][18]

References

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  1. ^ "Afire (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 15 September 2023.Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Katz, David (11 July 2022). "Afire dawns for Christian Petzold and Paula Beer". Cineuropa. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Roter Himmel" [Afire]. Crew United (in German). 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Scott Roxborough (25 February 2023). "Berlin: French Documentary 'On the Adamant' Wins Golden Bear for Best Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  5. ^ Rosser, Michael (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival reveals 2023 competition line-up". Screen Daily. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Afire". filmportal.de. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  7. ^ Roxborough, Scott (14 August 2023). "Oscars: 'Teachers' Lounge,' Wim Wenders' 'Anselm' on Germany's 2024 International Feature Shortlist". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  8. ^ Pearce, Leonard (9 October 2020). "Christian Petzold Reveals His Next Film is a Gay Love Story Titled The Red Sky". The Films Stage. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  9. ^ Roxborough, Scott (18 August 2023). "San Sebastian Festival to Screen 'May December,' 'Zone of Interest,' 'Past Lives' in Best-of Sidebar". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Afire". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Afire". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  12. ^ Bell, Nicholas (22 February 2023). "Pleasure to Burn: Petzold Stokes the Flames in Diffident Drama". IonCinema.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  13. ^ Croll, Ben (22 February 2023). "'Afire' Review: Christian Petzold Takes a Smoldering Tour Through the Life of the Mind". IndieWire. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  14. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (22 February 2023). "Afire (Roter Himmel) review – useless-author comedy-drama in saga of angst and lust". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  15. ^ Ramachandran, Naman; Vivarelli, Nick (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival Reveals Competition Lineup (Updating Live)". Variety. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  16. ^ Frater, Patrick (9 May 2023). "Sydney Film Festival Unveils Bumper Lineup for 70th Edition". Variety. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  17. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (7 November 2023). "'Fallen Leaves' & 'The Zone Of Interest' Top European Film Award Nominations In Main Categories". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  18. ^ "The European Film Awards announce 21 further feature films to be added to the their selection". Cineuropa. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
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