The latest from Berlin School genre deconstructor Christoph Hochhäusler takes the shape of a noirish psycho-thriller to interrogate thorny themes of gender, sexuality, and identity performance. A main-slate competitor at this year’s Berlinale (and winner of Best Supporting Performance for Thea Ehre’s astonishing turn), Till the End of the Night plunges the viewer into Frankfurt’s nocturnal underworld where trans convict Leni (Ehre, herself trans), in exchange for parole, assumes the role of girlfriend to straight-playing cop Robert (Timocin Ziegler) to infiltrate a drug trafficking network run by her former boss. That Robert was Leni’s lover before she transitioned—and that he still holds a flame for her, destabilizing his sexual identity—further complicates the deep-cover operation. Part pulpy policier, part multilayered romance, Hochhäusler’s polarizing sixth feature summons the work of forefather R.W. Fassbinder in its queering of genre fare and tenor of doomed romanticism. Winner Silver Berlin Bear, Best Supporting Performance. Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23283892/ Link Review: https://variety.com/2023/film/global/till-the-end-of-the-night-berlin-1235522298/ Link to watch: https://watch.eventive.org/euffonline2023/play/65287996d61ac90058603744
(available from 1st December, EUFF Online 2023)