Wednesday 15 May 2013

Lore -review


Lore named after the titular character is  about the journey of Lore(Saskia Rosendahl)13 year old  German girl along with her siblings Liesel(Nele Trebs ),the twins Gunther and Jurgen( AndrĂ© Frid  &Mika Seidel) and and a crying baby travelling across Germany  towards their grandmother's house during the last days of the war . Lore being brought up in a comfortable life and Nazis propaganda must now take the role of the parent as her Nazi parents are in prison, learning   the truth of her parents and  Germany  itself while travelling across the country.To make things  worse Lore is experiencing this sexual awakening towards a person she is taught to loathe since a child.

This film might be seen as a Nazi sympathising film as it focuses on the the plights endured by these Nazi children but that's not the intention of this film.One of the message of this film is that everyone is somehow affected by the war  no matter what side they belong to.There is no real winner when it comes to war.Lore and her siblings starts their journey as these  children with their own innocent ideology about the war but only to find the truth about their heritage and the German's role in the great Holocaust.


The character Lore itself represents the mentality of Germans at that time.Tainted with Nazi propaganda ,she  loathes the Jews for no solid reason  and regard her heritage as something special.However, as  Germany itself is in a transition ,her views will change as she find herself  needing the help of the people she considers dirt  as well learning  her parents direct involvement in the holocaust.Not to forget her attraction towards the mysterious Tomas(Kai Malina).While she is having all those emotions in her,she is also trying  her best  to keep all these secrets from her siblings and eventually making the burden more heavier.


The screenplay is slow but effective.All the different  the ideology about the war is beautifully depicted.We get to see people who are in denial,people who seems to think the Holocaust is created by the American and etc.The cinematography is one of the major plus.There are some really simple scenes showcasing the emotions of the characters simple actions throughout the film.My favourite would be the final scene where
Liesel asks Lore to play with her but  Lore breaks down into  tears saying  she cant do that anymore and  the revelation  about Tomas identity..Another strong scene would be when Lore initiates sex with Kai with a notion a Jew would be greedy and a opportunist(stereotypes) but only to  being refused by him.

Every scene looks immaculate and  the colour washed scenes  is a delight.(I will attach the trailer which in my opinion  was one of the best trailers of 2012) As for the performance everyone  does a splendid job from the titular  Saskia Rosendahl to the unnamed  baby.Saskia Rosendahl is definitely one  talented actress.She performs her role with maturity and with ample  naivety.Another surprising performance would be the sister Liesel played by the ferocious Nele Trebs .Her character, just like Lore  has to grow up and take up grown up responsibility.However unlike Lore  she is not tainted with the Nazi propaganda and has these childlike will of  wanting to live.Nele Trebs performance kinda reminded me of Maisie Williams in the Game of Thrones and she has some strong confrontational scenes with Saskia Rosendahl.Kai Malina as the mysterious Tomas is another surprise.His character has a lot of potential but sadly is really under developed .I  dont see why making Tomas identity ambigious hasvalid purpose and totally uncalled for.

Overall,Lore is one of those different WW1 films focusing on the human emotions guilt and losing of innocence.I definitely recomend this film for those who want to watch a WW1 movie from the Germans perspective.
A-