Film: Martin (Vincent Redetzki) moves from the province to Berlin for his studies. He quickly has to realize that the clocks here tick a little differently than in his small-town home and that it is almost impossible to find an affordable apartment here. And so he is only too happy to accept the offer to move into a somewhat run-down apartment whose previous tenant has disappeared without a trace - even if he has to have the application photo taken shirtless by the somewhat strange caretaker (Ronald Nitschke) of the gloomy apartment building. The mess left behind by the previous tenant doesn't bother him any more than the clogged bathtub or strange noises he hears through the wall. When he meets his landlady and neighbour Simone (Katharina Heyer), he is immediately fascinated by the sexual attraction the attractive and mysterious woman exudes. When he realizes that something is wrong in the house and that he himself may be in danger, he has long since been caught in a web of sex, passion and dark secrets from which there seems to be no escape...
The Woman Behind the Wall is a very good example of what exciting and original genre cinema from Germany can look like. Staged for the series Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Grzegorz Muskala's erotic mystery thriller definitely has cinema-level quality even on a purely visual level. The film plays very cleverly with shadows and colours, but also with the set, so that a very special atmosphere is created which is hard to resist. The imagery is reminiscent of Polanski's The Tenant or the surreal cinema of David Lynch. This alone is enough to make the film stand out pleasantly clearly from the mass of German television productions.
But also dramaturgically the film can convince. Consciously Muskalas renounces too striking effects and relies more on a subtle tension that clutches the viewer more and more and despite some small lengths until the finale does not let go. Especially at the beginning there is a real Hitchcock flair. Admittedly, The Woman Behind the Wall doesn't reach the level of this master of suspense. But as a thriller in best Hitchcock style the movie works very well. Besides the haunting atmosphere, this is also thanks to the good actors. Vincent Redetzki is just as good as a shy student on the verge of total obsession as Katharine Heyer is as a mysterious femme fatale.
Whoever appreciates suspenseful, dark thrillers with a pinch of eroticism, lots of mystery and suspense, should not miss this successful feature film debut by Grzegorz Muskalas. Maybe not a perfect film, but an excellent example of how creative, unadjusted and surprising young German film can be. And for that alone there is a clear: worth seeing!
Picture + Sound: The mysterious-dark mood that dominates the film, especially in the first hour, comes on the DVD well. This is ensured not only by the very atmospheric color scheme, but also the harmonious contrasts and the convincingly mixed black levels. In terms of image sharpness, the DVD is also convincing, although there are visible weaknesses in the detail representation, especially in the many dark scenes. The sound is rather restrained, although there are always small but very effective surround moments in addition to the dialogue, which is mixed in a well understandable way. Good!
Extras: In addition to three removed scenes (approx. 3:34 min.), which can also be viewed with an optional commentary by the director, the DVD also has Muskala's very watchable short film The Woman Behind the Wall (approx. 19:11 min.) in the bonus offering. Good!
Conclusion: The Woman Behind the Wall is a tense and electrifying thriller that scores with evocative imagery, an erotically charged atmosphere and some original plot elements. A film that dares to leave the safe scheme F and to surprise the viewer quite sometimes. The DVD presents the film in coherent picture and sound quality and has an extra short film by the director that is worth seeing. Who likes exciting chamber plays of the somewhat more unusual kind, which should risk here absolutely a view. Recommendable
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
