Detroit

No, it’s not a very cheerful film. And it doesn’t provide all the answers. But it is intriguing. Maybe precisely because it refuses to be clear and cheerful. In Detroit, Edzard (powerfully played by Christoph Bach) is on his way from Berlin to Braunschweig to attend his brother’s wedding -or is it because his example Volkert is being buried? As his journey progresses, his final destination becomes less and less clear. Encounters on the way play much too great a role for a traveller who has a destination in mind. In addition, the film makers defied the logic of contemporary travel by allowing people the protagonist had lost sight of to turn up again. It takes the tormented Edzard no less than three days for a car trip that can also be completed in two hours on the German Autobahn. The film itself seems to have come about in a similar way. A short drama of 20 minutes was planned as a project for the Berliner Filmhochschule, but the film adventure took control of the film makers and then took its own route. With great feeling for understatement, the makers call Detroit their most personal feature -even though they have not made any other features yet. (GjZ)