Das Vorspiel (2019)

Directed by: Ina Weisse | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: Nina Hoss, Simon Abkarian, Jens Albinus, Ilja Monti, Serafin Mishiev, Winnie Böwe, William Coleman, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan, Jana Kuss, Sophie Rois, Thomas Thieme, Oliver Wille

Germany’s top actress Nina Hoss acts as the anchor point in this feature-length debut by Ina Weisse, as she also does as Christian Petzold’s muse in films such as ‘Barbara’ and ‘Phoenix’ – richly variegated drama with love for the main character. ‘Das Vorspiel’ is more serrated, more of a classic French film than a German one. That is not a coincidence in a Franco-German co-production; French is even spoken by Hoss’ character, a perfectionist violin teacher married to a Frenchman (Abkarian). She has an affair with a colleague (Albinus); son Jonas (Mishiev) is a talented violinist. We share the perspective with him and Anna (Hoss).

As in Petzold’s films, the whole is held together by Hoss’ compelling presentation. Watching her is always fascinating: once she is bitter and bitter (‘I stink’, she says to her lover after sex), then again soft and sparkling; there’s always something going on beneath the surface – women’s own, but not every actress given. What Weisse wants to tell is subordinate to the character Anna, who is completely eaten by Hoss. It is not without reason that she won the prize for Best Actress at the last San Sebastian Film Festival, a good platform for work on the fringes of the film industry.

Hoss is probably best off with a sparse setting and a lot of freedom, because we don’t see her in commercial productions. ‘Das Vorspiel’ is a decent film with a bit too much violin playing in the opinion of the undersigned; then Hoss comes into the picture again, always breathing unrest and cultivating expectation. Weisse seems to have made a good choice with a character study of her main character, but remains invisible as an author, as if Hoss manipulates the plot with her being. She is too big for her environment, and quickly reduces her fellow players to ants. As a director, you may only be able to provide such a person with the means.