Variety
A refugee portrait that piles contrivance upon contrivance to somehow land at a place of piercing emotional acuity.
Full review
Transit (2018)
Paula Beer (Frantz) leads the latest from filmmaker Christian Petzold (Phoenix), a World War II tale courageously set in contemporary Marseille, France.
“German refugee Georg (Franz Rogowski, Victoria) flees Paris carrying with him the documents of a famous author, Weidel, who has taken his own life rather than face his persecutors. Most vital of the documents is a visa assurance from the Mexican embassy which allows the holder safe passage away from war-addled Europe. In Marseille, Georg assumes Weidel’s identity, intending to keep up the ruse until he can escape to Mexico. While awaiting the necessary paperwork, Georg comes upon and soon falls in love with the mysterious Marie (Beer). She is also waiting in Marseille and looking for her husband, who is said to have arrived in the city with a visa for her: he is the writer, Weidel.” (Sydney Film Festival)
2018Rating: M101 minsGermany, FranceGerman and French with English subtitles
DramaWarWorld Cinema
- Director:
- Christian Petzold ('Phoenix', 'Barbara')
- Writer:
- Christian Petzold
- Cast:
- Paula BeerFranz RogowskiLilien BatmanGodehard GieseMaryam ZareeBarbara AuerMatthias BrandtSebastian Hülk
Transit (2018) / Reviews
The New York Times
By turns intimate and expansive, "Transit" is a thrilling, at times harrowing labyrinth of a movie.
Full review
New Zealand Herald
Evoking Casablanca, this tragic romance is gorgeous to look at and often thrilling, its central gimmick of telling a historical story in the modern day paying off surprisingly well.
Full review
Los Angeles Times
"Transit" touchingly illuminates the close bonds that can form within migrant communities, even as it refuses to harbour any illusions about how easily those bonds can be broken.
Full review
IndieWire
Lucidly traces the specter of fascism (never extinguished, always waiting to exhale), and how unreal it feels for it to cast its shadow across Europe once more.
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Hollywood Reporter
As the film slowly puts its formalistic and thematic cards on the table, it becomes clear that its storytelling technique is really just a reflection of its core themes.
Full review
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