Jasmine

It is an inconceivable act that Jasmin (Anne Schäfer) is accused of: she is said to have killed her daughter and then tried to take her own life. In the psychiatric ward, Dr. Feld (Wiebke Puls) is now supposed to find out what could have driven a young woman like Jasmin to kill her own child, why she wanted to give up her life just like that. Four days the women talk to each other, four days in which Jasmin opens up more and more and Dr. Feld reveals insight into the dark corners of her soul...

Jasmin is truly not an easy film. Confined almost entirely to Jasmin and Dr. Field's conversations in a small, barren room, the chamber drama is not subtitled, very appropriately, The Story of a Depression for nothing. Like Dr. Field, the viewer is drawn deeper and deeper into the dark world of Jasmin's soul, which is an extreme challenge to face without reservation. But then you get acting cinema that is hard to top in terms of intensity. Anne Schäfer seems to be acting with every fiber of her body. Although she spends most of the film sitting, she unleashes an enormous power through her nuanced facial expressions and small gestures, through which Jasmin's psyche and all its abysses are slowly but inexorably revealed.

Now, of course, the question arises whether a film in which only two protagonists talk to each other necessarily belongs in the cinema. It is true that The God of Carnage recently proved that chamber plays can certainly work in the cinema. Nevertheless, there are an incredible number of films made in Germany in collaboration with television that are much better off on screen than on the big screen. And although Jasmin, whose shooting was supported by BR, with its sparse setting and its plot determined only by the dialogues, seems to be predestined for a pure TV exploitation, in this very special case it has to be said that the cinema exploitation makes sense and is justified. Because the film has an almost claustrophobic atmosphere that can only really unfold in a dark cinema. Moreover, it is worth noticing every nuance of Anne Schäfer's strong acting, which is really only possible to the full extent on the big screen.

Jasmin is heavy, but also impressive arthouse cinema from Germany. A depressing film that stays in the memory for a long time thanks to two very good actresses, but especially because of Anne Schäfer's intense acting. Not a film for a relaxed evening at the cinema, but those who like to face more difficult material and prefer great acting to light entertainment should definitely not miss this chamber play. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp