Die Blumen von Gestern
English Title
The Flowers of Yesterday
Year
2016
Director
Chris Kraus
Synopsis
Totila Blumen is a Holocaust researcher, very serious and is in the middle of a life and meaning crisis. His job depresses him, his marriage is in trouble. He is annoying his surroundings with excessive morals. As his great role model, Professor Norkus, shortly before his death, chose the careerist Balthasar as his successor, Totila is nerve-wracked and no longer under control. The first thing his new boss puts on him is the crazy French student, Zazie, as an intern. The frustrated historian treats Zazie, who also has a relationship with Balthasar, hurtfully and cruelly. But the eccentric young woman, granddaughter of a Holocaust victim, cannot be shaken off. Apparently, she has her own agenda—an agenda that is closely linked to Totila's origins and his Nazi grandfather. While Balthasar threatens to turn a planned Auschwitz congress into an advertising-financed media event, Totila and Zazie disappear for a while on the trail of their grandparents to Riga.
Honours/Awards
- Lars Eidinger wins Österreichischen Filmpreis 2018
- Winner of Tokyo Grand Prix and WOWOW Viewer's Choice Award at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival 2016
- Best Feature Film at the Baden-Württembergische Filmpreis 2017
- Best Screenplay at the Thomas-Strittmatter-Preis 2013
- Nominated in 8 categories at the Deutscher Filmpreis
- Grand Prize—Best Narrative Feature at the 3rd Jewish Film Festival Moscow
Adèle’s role
Zazie Lindeau, a French scholar & intern at a holocaust research institute.
Excerpts from reviews
“But Kraus also has Adèle Haenel, who everyone in France already knows, and her Zazie proves to be equal to this berserk every second, and that's all the more wonderful because she does it in German, which she had no idea of before filming began.”
“…it also benefits hugely from the engaging central performances of Adèle Haenel and Lars Eidinger. The French Haenel, recently seen in the Dardennes brothers’ The Unknown Girl, alternates easily, like her character, between her native French and fluent German, and negotiates the sharp turns of her role so well she just about saves it from becoming too much Manic Pixie Holocaust Girl to bear.”
“Opposite him stands the highly talented Adèle Haenel (The Unknown Girl), which makes Zazie's moods shoot unpredictably through the room like a pinball.”
Comments
I like this film and I like the crazy energy that Zazie has. Adèle shifts from her usual restrained style of acting into crazy-over-the-top-let-it-all-hang-out acting. She is hilarious and so very cute! This is not say that she does not also portray darker emotions, and she uses her mighty acting prowess to powerful effect.
One thing to watch for is the way that Adèle acts when she is working in different languages. When in German (at least in this film, I look forward to her in more German-language films) she is more over-the-top, though in an interview she said that she is 'more categorical' when speaking German. Watch for a couple of words in English near the end of the film—her whole persona and even physicality seem to change when she switches languages at that point. We get the trademark Adèle smile late in the film.
One thing to watch for is the way that Adèle acts when she is working in different languages. When in German (at least in this film, I look forward to her in more German-language films) she is more over-the-top, though in an interview she said that she is 'more categorical' when speaking German. Watch for a couple of words in English near the end of the film—her whole persona and even physicality seem to change when she switches languages at that point. We get the trademark Adèle smile late in the film.
This is Adéle’s first film in the German language. Adéle’s father is Austrian and she was exposed to the German language and spoke some German when a child (though she was raised in French). She had to (re)learn German for the role.
Adèle on learning German for the film:
How was it for you to work in a foreign language?
Adèle: "It was important to me that I didn't have to hide this difficulty of speaking. It doesn't make sense, it doesn't give a soul. I had watched a couple of films with French actors who played in German in preparation, and in my opinion the biggest problem was that there was no soul. It was all super clean, like in German classes. But it's also a way to protect yourself as an actor. Chris Kraus understood that I didn't want that, so I needed an insecurity for the figure. We then used that for the figure. He was not attached to certain words that are too difficult for me. It went quite well."
How did you learn German so fast for the film?
Adèle: "I first had a German teacher in France with whom I worked for a few months. Then I went to Dresden and spent two weeks there and graduated from the Goethe Institute. And then I came to Berlin for rehearsals and had to speak German all the time. I didn't want a French assistant, nor a dialogue coach, I wanted to totally fall into this country. I made a lot of progress as a result. Voilá ..."
Press Kit
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| Kalumina |
Interview with Adèle about the film
Some 'Behind the Scenes' shots
My Die Blumen von Gestern memorabilia—the film's poster signed by the major cast members
Rewatch Notes
What I find amazing in this film is how, again, Adèle can look so very different in different films, and sometimes even within a film (for example, Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu—she looks like different women in various scenes...). In Die Blumen von Gestern we see facial expression not seen in any of her earlier films (or any later ones, so far). It is almost as if by speaking German (and maybe taking on the role of an unstable young woman) she has opened up a whole new volume of her acting repertoire.
There are so many great scenes in the film. One that stands out are the is the dog-throwing scene and the search scene that follows, Adèle's Zazie is totally over the top and crazy in these scenes. The strawberry milk scene is also great (and has helped teach me how to swear in German, as En Liberte! does in French). The bike riding scene is also fabulous...there are so many good scenes where Adèle shows us totally different facets of her capabilities as an actress—both comedic and dramatic.
Micro trivia: In L'Apollonide Adèle (as Léa) speaks a couple of words of German: "Musik bitte" ('music please').
Adele at the premiere of the film
Since strangly my Twitter account don't let me post something and this is my 2nd favorite Film of Adele I have to make a short comment.
ReplyDeleteI love Adele's German in "Die Blumen von gestern". Lars Eidinger and Adele are a great combination. They have both very creative minds and are also very physical actors and are also able to play it emotions on a quiet level.
They are both great in this film. I particularly love they way that Adèle finds new ways of acting as she is developing in her craft (off a brilliant base!). By continuing to challenge herself and take herself out of her comfort zone she continues to grow as an actress and we are the beneficiaries of this.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first movie I saw with Adele. I was very suprised when I watched it a second time that I didn't know/remembered that Adele was naked in the movie and there is a sex scene. Only the romantic stuff and the story stayed in my head. Afterwards it was striking to me that Adele is repeatedly unaffectedly naked to embody her characters.
ReplyDeleteI think it is demanded of, and expected, of actresses in French cinema. Adèle has commented on this in some interviews. I must say that after watching (almost) all of her films in a short period, I am now more shocked by how much smoking there is, rather than how much nudity...
ReplyDelete: )
As child or teen I love to watch films with Romy Schneider. Later I was surprised how explicit this old movies were. So maybe your right on French cinema. But sometimes the scenes are more realistic or directors/actresses thing they are.
ReplyDeleteBut I think European cinema has the reputation to be not so prudish and there is not so much censorship.
French films seem to be more relaxed with nudity than US films. People do, indeed, have bodies and they get naked frequently, so it's a part of life. A concern, though, is that the actresses and actors, especially young ones and those without power (that is, most of them), may be required to do things that they are not comfortable with. This is infinitely more of a concern for child actors, as, can they really consent?
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned above, the amount of smoking in French films is more shocking to me. This may be because in my life I don't see people smoking that often (whereas a naked body isn't a rarity).
Really in Austria there a still a lot of people smoking and not so often naked in public 😉
ReplyDeleteWithout fun.... People over here still smoke a lot but now it seems to change a little bit. The laws are a little bit stricter. I once heard you are allowed to smoke in a movie when it's important for the story.