The song in me

Actually Maria (Jessica Schwarz) wanted to spend her vacation in Chile. But when, during a stopover in Buenos Aires, she hears a young mother singing a Spanish nursery rhyme to her baby, she bursts into tears completely uncontrollably. Although she doesn't speak a word of Spanish, she recognized that song. Instead of continuing her journey, Maria stays in Buenos Aires in the hope that she will find out what she associates with this song. When her father Anton (Michael Gwisdek) learns about it, he immediately sets off for Argentina, hoping to protect his daughter from her past. Or maybe he just wants to protect himself from the consequences of the truth?

With his debut "Das Lied in mir" director Florian Cossen has staged a haunting drama about self-discovery, belonging and family. Jessica Schwarz carries the film with a rather introverted portrayal, which is limited to a few gestures and a rather frozen facial expression, but in which small changes speak an even clearer language. Also Michael Gwisdek, who didn't really show his best side in "Father Morgana" recently with a somewhat exaggerated game, proves that less is sometimes more. His very restrained play convincingly illustrates Maria's father's fear of losing his daughter when she learns the truth about her past.

Buenos Aires also plays an important role in the film. The way in which Cossen and his team have captured the city and incorporated Argentina's more recent history into the story lends the multi-award-winning drama a very special atmosphere, which proves to be a great strength of the production for viewers who can get involved in somewhat bulkier, hypothermic dramas. However, it is also this cold atmosphere, filled with a certain sadness, that makes it difficult to fully understand the emotional depth of the story. It is true that the language barrier between Mary and the people who are closely connected with her past, as well as the impossibility for the young swimmer and her father to be able to continue her close and loving relationship in the future, is perfectly conveyed. But the resulting dramatic heaviness makes the film extremely bulky and difficult to access for an arthouse inexperienced audience.

So "Das Lied in mir" is a well-played and also captivatingly filmed drama, which is too much crushed by its own ambitions and which would have benefited from a little encouraging lightness. Because only a few cinema-goers like to be entertained by a permanent tristesse - and this film definitely deserves to be watched.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp