If Alfred Hitchcock would have directed a post-WWII thriller involving mistaken identities, a Holocaust survivor and the chaos of post-war Germany, I am sure it would have turned out something like the new German thriller, Phoenix (incidentally, many of the motifs in this film are found in my favorite Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes). Phoenix is the latest film by German director Christian Petzold that is a serious examination of just how drastically the horrors of the worst genocide in history changed Germany.

Phoenix, loosely based on the French novel Le Retour des cendres (The Return from Ashes), follows the journey of Nelly Lenz (Nina Hoss), a Holocaust survivor who has her face permanently disfigured by an unsuccessful execution attempt. With the help of her close Jewish friend, Lene (Nina Kunzendorf), she begins to reconstruct her face and reconstruct her life. Against the advice of Lene, Nelly begins to search for her gentile husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), from whom she was separated during the Holocaust. Lene is certain that Johnny betrayed Nelly to the Nazis and wants Nelly to come to the newly forming Israel and build a better life there. Undeterred, Nelly eventually does succeed in finding her husband, though he does not recognize her. Johnny does admit that she looks much like his wife and enlists her in a plan to claim Nelly’s fortune, since he assumes that she is dead. Nelly then has to play the part of herself in Johnny’s plan, all while trying to unravel whether or not Johnny betrayed her.

The film is definitely a slow starter, but once the intrigue and mystery surrounding Johnny sets in, the film is thoroughly engrossing. The central premise is somewhat far-fetched, but as many film critics have already noted, this may serve to demonstrate a more metaphorical truth. The truth that the Holocaust was so damaging and life-altering that it physically, emotionally, and spiritually separated the German people from Jews in the country, so much so that a husband and wife would not even recognize each other. Jewish identity is another one of the main themes of this movie. Nelly finds herself stuck between two groups where she does not feel comfortable. She does not feel the same Zionistic zeal that Lene does, but because of the Holocaust, she has been forced to identify as a Jew and can never go back to just being a normal German. During one particularly poignant scene, Lene reminds Nelly that she is Jewish, even though Nelly has never thought of herself as such.

Where this movie truly shines is its climax. In true German fashion, the emotions of the actors on-screen are muted, but the power that is conveyed by small actions is overwhelming. If you can handle the German subtitles (though parts of the movie are in English) and the sluggish start, then this thriller is one that contains an engaging plot and a powerful message.