“Fatherland”, Thomas Mann’s moving homecoming

The film’s opening sequence shows a telephone conversation between Erika and her brother Klaus, who is also a writer and has an extremely troubled relationship with their father: it is a scene that already brings into play much of the symbolism Pawlikowski aims for in this film, in which boundaries are not merely geopolitical, but also the barriers that arise between human beings during the most delicate moments of their lives (it is particularly interesting in this regard that Pawlikowski has replaced Katia, Mann’s wife who had actually accompanied him on this journey, with his daughter Erika).

With its author’s customary formal elegance, “Fatherland” draws us into the depths of the human soul and into those of recent European history, offering numerous insights and reflections on the acceptance of evil and political hypocrisy – themes explored in a manner that is as profound as it is understated, without ever resorting to facile didacticism.

Contributing to the overall strength of this excellent film – which even evokes certain elements of an absolute masterpiece such as Ingmar Bergman’s *Wild Strawberries* – is the remarkable performance by Hanns Zischer as Thomas Mann and, even more so, that of Sandra Hüller as Erika. The result is undoubtedly one of the most profound films to have been shown in cinemas in recent months.

Among the new releases in cinemas is the American film “Primetime”, Lance Oppenheim’s debut feature film, starring Robert Pattinson.

The English actor plays the role of Chris Hansen, the presenter of *To Catch a Predator*, who in 2006 sought to make television history.

‘Few programmes have managed to maintain such a firm hold on popular culture – and on my own imagination – as the Dateline feature To Catch a Predator has done in the twenty years since it first aired. Its presenter, Chris Hansen, pioneered a spectacle of retribution: the moment when moral outrage was transformed into an unmissable television event”: the director accompanied the screening at the Venice Film Festival – where the film was presented in competition – with these words, describing a film that curiously combines form and content, using an explicitly exaggerated and highly flamboyant style, just like the programme he is referring to.

Alternating between beautifully crafted sequences and other moments that are a little too self-indulgent, “Primetime” is a feature film that is only partly successful: the reflections on television and the way we watch it are incisive, but the ideas risk becoming somewhat repetitive, and even the conclusion fails to live up to the film’s promising premise. Pattinson’s performance, however, is excellent.