Review by John Delia
Compelling and provocative, the foreign language drama Closed Season (“Ende der Schonzeitâ€) opens this weekend in several areas in the USA. It’s an out of the ordinary snippet of 1942 Germany that polarizes the victimizing side of WWII with some light humor, elicit sensuality and a deviation from the norm.
Trying to reach the Swiss border in an attempt to escape the Nazi government, Jewish German Albert (Christian Friedel) finds he’s short of his mark as he enters the Black Forest. He comes upon Fritz (Hans-Jochen Wagner) a hunter who has downed a deer with the gunshot alerting two German soldiers traveling a nearby road. Fritz realizing from Alberts actions that he must be a Jew takes a chance and offers shelter at his nearby farm.
His wife Emma (Brigitte Hobmeier) realizes that Albert is a Jew and fears that they will be caught, but Fritz assures her that it will be safe. Besides, he says he needs another pair of hands to help work the farm. During Fritz’s weekly card games at the local tavern, players and his friend Walter (Thomas Loibl) the local Nazi Gestapo, chide him about Emma not having a male offspring to help him with his farm. Since he’s secretly impotent he later convinces his wife to let Albert make her pregnant.
So begins a story filled with complications, discovering sexuality and placing three lives in danger. Director Franziska Schlotterer does a good job of keeping the cast likable and avoiding the war while the characters try to exist during despicable times. The cast pulls off excellent performances under Scholtterer and makes the film a winner.
The three main cast members are magnificent, especially Friedel who’s character Albert doesn’t know what to make of the offer to him about making love to the farmer’s wife so she can become pregnant. At first rebuking the whole thing, he realizes he doesn’t have much choice being on the run in the middle of Germany with Nazi’s all over the place. Even if he leaves the farm, his journey would most likely be certain death. At least he’s in control of the effort he’s asked to take on, but with this fetching woman the task becomes a welcome diversion.
As Emma, Brigitte Hobmeier shows her conflicted side not wanting a stranger in her bed yet wanting to satisfy her husband Fritz with a male offspring. She’s at odds with her husband because of the danger of having a Jew on the premises putting them in danger let alone anyone finding out the child would not be his. And speaking of Hans-Jochen Wagner as Fritz, he’s a strong willed man who won’t take no for an answer, even if his wife has already put the question in his head. Not wanting his friends to find out he cannot make a child would crush his ego, so why not use the man he’s hiding as a sperm donor.
Closed Season or “Ende der Schonzeit†(direct translation from German to English means “End of the Honeymoon Period†which I like better for a title) has not been rated by the MPAA but contains sex, nudity language and some disparaging remarks. While the film still has a dark cloud of escaping certain death by Nazi law, very little if any violence is included in the movie. The film is presented in the German language with English Subtitles.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good film with fine acting, a creative story and excellent direction. (B+)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Hans-Jochen Wagner, Brigitte Hobmeier, Christian Friedel, Thomas Loibl
Directed and Written by: Franziska Schlotterer
Genre: Drama, Foreign Language Film
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains sex, nudity, language and derogatory comments
Running Time: 1 hr. 40 min.
Release Date: January 15, 2016
Distributed by: Menemsha Films.