Die Unberührbare

Know right from the start that NO PLACE TO GO is definitely NOT the kind of film likely to have a lot of appeal to most western filmgoers. And if you're looking for "the feel-good film of the year," THIS ISN'T IT! It's a hard-hitting tragedy, the type of film that Hollywood greenlighters can't reject FAST enough.

The film is based on the late stages of the life of director Oskar Roehler's mother, prominent German novelist (and devout Leninist) Giseta Elsner. The story begins with the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of Communism in Germany -- events that sent her personal and professional life into a tailspin (her novels had always sold better in communist East Germany than in her native West). She comes across uncannily as a real-life Norma Desmond (from SUNSET BOULEVARD) -- a self-indulgent once-prominent woman with garish tastes who is fighting a losing battle with a major mid-life crisis. For Desmond, the advent of talking pictures meant no roles to play; for Giseta Elsner, the fall of East Germany meant -- no place to go. She tried resettling in the new Berlin, but found herself to be an anachronism who just didn't fit in at all.

Hannelore Elsner (no relation to the real-life character) gives a performance that's every bit as convincing as Gloria Swanson's was as Desmond. And if you're a fan of black-and-white cinematography, I can't recommend Haden Bodganski's work here highly enough (it'll NEVER survive the transition to the small screen, trust me). Like I said, the film is definitely not for everyone, but it's one that I plan to tell a couple of film scholars with whom I have occasional contact with to check out.