Lore

Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Ursina Lardi, Nele Trebs

Directed By: Cate Shortland

Reviewed by: Stephanie Wong

[rating: 4/5]

Restless fans of Cate Shortland will finally be at ease with the director’s new dark historic drama that is Lore. Much like her directorial debut Somersault, Shortland delves in the coming of age element, however this time exploring it against a somber historical palette. Set in post-war Germany in 1945 after the collapse of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, Lore is a story of a misguided teenage girl who must gather her four siblings across fallen Nazi Germany to the safety of her Grandmother’s house. With her SS officer dad fleeing the family and her mother turning herself into the Americans, Lore is left desolate, alone and ill prepared for what the journey ahead of her.

Along their journey through occupied Germany, the young family encounters a complication when they run into a group of Allied troops. Lore’s family is saved however by a young Jewish man who reveals to the American soldiers his Jewish passport and misrepresents the family as his own relatives. Lore’s younger siblings quickly find themselves attached to the troubled Jewish refugee, whereas Lore, instilled with deep Nazi prejudices in her upbringing, is skeptical and hastily sticks to her initial anti-Semitic judgments. Throughout their journey, Lore shares an ambivalent relationship with her savior and her conflicted emotions eventually erupt, climaxing to an eventual sexual tension with her fellow peer.

Shortland makes a star out of Saskia Rosendahl who is spellbinding as the apprehensive and conflicted young Nazi believer. Rosendahl draws you in with her profound performance as Lore that you can’t help but feel apologetic for her misguided beliefs as she struggles to come to terms with the criminal fictions she was propagandized to believe. Kai Malina, the young man who portrays the Jewish refugee also delivers. Contrasting the emotions that ooze out of Rosendahl’s delivery, Malina is stoic, stone cold and composed.

There are, however, drawbacks to the movie. The screenplay was well written but you will find that the movie drags out in the middle leaving you bored more often than not. Additionally, the sexuality element between the two stars is a bit more awkward than contributive to the development of the characters. All in all, I do have to praise Shortland on a wonderful film. The casting department shines and dreamy directive stylings make the film arthouse audience worthy. This is a movie worth seeing.