Phoenix
Phoenix
PG-13 | 24 July 2015 (USA)
Phoenix Trailers

German-Jewish cabaret singer Nelly survived Auschwitz but had to undergo reconstructive surgery as her face was disfigured. Without recognizing Nelly, her former husband Johnny asks her to help him claim his wife’s inheritance. To see if he betrayed her, she agrees, becoming her own doppelganger.

Reviews
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
kapu s prabhakara I may be wrong, as i am watching this, this is very much like The return from the ashes, where liv Ulman returns from the camp and meets with old lover played my maxmilian schell. who marries her for her money and tries to kill her. i really enjoyed the return from the ashes, and i am equally relishing this film.
tsestan This movie received great reviews just because it is German. If this was Spielberg film it would get far worse and much more objective reviews. Don't get me wrong, I like German movies but not this one. This one looks like it was written be thirteen year old girl "tragically" in love with the boy that is dating her best friend. When the end came I started laughing. How could adult write such an end. But now when I think about it, it all falls into its place. Highly moral persons, betrayal, suffering and ultimately one of the corniest ending in history of cinema. Man, this is pure Shakespeare. I know I am being an idiot but this wouldn't even be great as sixteen century drama. I just checked and saw that same director has directed Barbara, much better movie. Maybe man lost his form or targeted a larger audience. Who knows
manders_steve Set in post WW2 Germany, we have Nelly (Nina Hoss), a Polish Jewish nightclub singer who survives the concentration camps, a facial bullet wound, and reconstructive surgery. She manages to return to her family, where her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld) fails to recognise her. She plays a duplicitous game of intrigue and investigation, trying to determine if her husband had betrayed her to the Nazis. He plays similarly deceptive games, aiming to use the found Nelly as a substitute for his believed-to-be lost wife, to claim reparation for substantial assets stolen by the Nazis. Staged reunions, revelation of a possible last minute divorce – and then it ends. I thought it might have launched into a court based battle over identity, with a last minute plot twist of whether the divorce was valid, or even existed at all, making for a nail biter about whether the husband would share any prize money. This might have drawn some threads together and almost justified the premise that a husband wouldn't recognise his wife with some minor facial rearrangement. But no.Visually, it's really attractive, and most of the cast deliver their roles competently. But it's a flimsy house built on quicksand. On the plus side, it moves at a comfortable pace and wasn't boring. But I didn't find it convincing in the least.
Red_Identity I have to say that the first act of the film I really loved. I thought the film was going into some really interesting terrain and I have to be honest, when the time came for the actual plot of the film to be revealed and I knew what it would be about, I was disappointed. Not that the storyline was particularly bad, I just thought it would hit even more interesting notes. As it is, the film itself is pretty good. It's poetic and haunting and very elegant, and it has some fine performances. Nina Hoss in particular (who I immediately recognized in her role this season of Homeland) does some captivating work with her eyes, and it is perhaps one of the best leading performances of the year.