The Ghosts of Girlhoods Past in "Sound of Falling"

"At the start of the extraordinary German drama "Sound of Falling," a teen-ager, Erika (Lea Drinda), hobbles down a hall on one leg and a pair of crutches. It takes a second to realize that she has no disability; she has used a length of rope to tuck her left leg out of sight. The crutches belong to her uncle Fritz (Martin Rother), an amputee, who is asleep in his bedroom when she sneaks in to return them."

"From these opening moments, the film is punctuated by spasms of youthful curiosity-about the strange properties of one's body, and the forbidden feel of someone else's-and also by wicked games of cunning and deceit. In a later scene, two sisters giggle as they nail a servant's unattended shoes to the floor. A woman, heading out on an errand, finds that her husband has somehow wedged her car between two trees-a cruel practical joke, and on her birthday, no less."

"The Berlin-born director Mascha Schilinski, who wrote the screenplay with Louise Peter, is a bit of a prankster herself. It's been a while since I've seen a filmmaker wield the tools of her craft with such an ingenious and committed sense of mischief. "Sound of Falling," which won a Jury Prize at Cannes, and is Germany's submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars, is both disorienting and enveloping; it knocks you off your feet and then sweeps you up again."

Mascha Schilinski's Sound of Falling follows four generations of women who inhabit a German farmhouse across a century, blending realism with spectral overtones. Scenes alternate between youthful mischief, bodily curiosity, and acts of cunning and deceit that unsettle domestic life. The film employs inventive camera work, including lengthy single takes and abrupt spatial shifts, to create disorientation and immersion. Performances range from a teenager's deceptive limping to girls' playful cruelty, producing an atmosphere that is both unsettling and enveloping. The film won a Jury Prize at Cannes and serves as Germany's submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars.

Read at The New Yorker