Beneath you the city

Actually, Svenja (Nicolette Krebitz) and her boyfriend Oliver (Mark Waschke) have moved to Frankfurt so that Oliver can make a career in the banking metropolis. But a chance encounter between Svenja and Oliver's new boss, bank manager Roland Cordes (Robert Hunger-Bühler), changes everything: because Cordes is immediately fascinated by Svenja and desperately wants to have an affair with the young woman. As Svenja agrees to the first flirtation but refuses more, Cordes unceremoniously transfers Oliver to Indonesia, where he is supposed to take over a well-paid but also extremely dangerous position. Left behind in Frankfurt, Svenja eventually gets involved in an affair with Cordes that soon threatens to get completely out of hand.

Aesthetically, "Unter Dir die Stadt" is undoubtedly compelling. Many of the images Hochhäusler has captured of the Main metropolis are gripping and exude an almost menacing coldness that reflects the inner lives of the main characters in a very good way. The performances of the actors, first and foremost Nicolette Krebitz and Robert Hunger-Bühler, are also marked by tremendous strength, which intensifies the undeniable fascination that the romantic drama exudes.

And yet, on balance, the film is a bitter disappointment. Certainly, a movie doesn't have to chew everything out to its audience. Rather, it's often a pleasure to be intellectually challenged and allowed to put the various pieces of the puzzle together yourself. But a director should also give his audience enough clues to succeed. But if only a few with the necessary prior knowledge can roughly guess what is hidden behind the cryptic set pieces of a story, the entertainment mission, which even heavy arthouse cinema should feel obliged to, is definitely not fulfilled.

Although Hochhäusler's handling of issues like the financial crisis can't exactly be considered subtle, there are always moments that are left unexplained and just don't want to fit into the overall picture. The last two minutes of the film, though extremely atmospherically staged, are definitely one of them. Sure, you could now crampedly look for all kinds of highfalutin explanations and interpretations, but that doesn't change the fact that "Unter Dir die Stadt" despite the good camera work and the convincing actors due to the confused script and the extremely unwieldy staging after a short time no longer captivates, but simply annoying. As I said, there will definitely be viewers who will understand Hochhäusler's world of thought - or those who will be satisfied with the fact that this is not the case. And for this small target group the film might be worth seeing just because of the mentioned positive aspects. But for those who are reluctant to leave the cinema with a strangely empty feeling and too many unanswered questions in their head, it's better not to let this drama drag you down

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp