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West Review

By David Kempler

Flöten Gehen?

West.jpg
Usually, when a family escapes from a life where they feel oppressed by the government to a land of greater individual freedoms, things get better, even if there are bumps in the road. Christian Schwochow's "West" puts a different spin on it when a mother and son escape from East Berlin to West Berlin in 1975.  

When we first meet Nelly (Jördis Triebel), she is standing outside her house along with her son, Alexei (Tristan Göbel), saying goodbye to her husband who is going away for a short business trip. The next scene is three years later and Nelly's husband has still not returned.

Another man picks them up in his car and the three of them set out to cross the border to West Berlin. It becomes apparent that this is a smuggling operation and what's being smuggled is a mother and her son. The man is pretending to be married to Nelly to help her escape from East Berlin. 

Nelly and Alexei take up residence in a complex set aside for the many refugees who have fled East Germany. In order to pass from this refugee camp into private life, it is necessary to be repeatedly interviewed by the authorities. Only after they have been convinced that she is legitimate can she be set free to live a totally free life outside of East Germany. As part of this process, the bureaucracy also requires that her permit be stamped twelve times before she and her son can be released.

While being questioned by an agent (Jacky Ido), Nelly learns that her husband, who she had been told was dead, was a member of the Stasi, the notorious East German secret police, and that he may actually still be alive. This casts her under suspicion as well. It's apparent that Nelly and her son may not be getting out of the refugee camp all that quickly.

"West" is primarily about paranoia. Nelly is paranoid. Her questioners are paranoid. Her fellow refugees are paranoid. What seemed like an escape to freedom carries with it, its own limitations. Schwochow does a good job of creating a tension in which the audience has no idea who to trust. Everyone may not be what one sees at first impression. When you escape, you often have no idea to what you might be escaping.

What did you think?

Movie title West
Release year 2013
MPAA Rating R
Our rating
Summary It's 1975, and a woman and her son escape from East Berlin to West Berlin in search of a better life. What they encounter may not be much better.
View all articles by David Kempler
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