“Stella: A Life” (original title: “Stella. Ein Leben.”) is a German biographical drama with a running time of 106 minutes. Kilian Riedhof is credited as the director of this film. The narration also comes as a grim struggle of Stella Goldschlag, a Jewish woman living in Berlin during the Second World War who was forced to collaborate with the Nazis and provide information to the Gestapo.
Synopsis Of The Movie
The film is set in World War II era and follows the life of Stella Goldschlag, who becomes a lover of jazz music only to turn out to be a controversial figure due to her treachery she faced. Stella foresaw a musical career during her teenage days in Berlin while the Nazi measures against the Jews were far from being eased. In 1944, she and her parents are in hiding to avoid being deported.” The Gaspodo got them”. Who survived repeated torture and the confession of her family, whom she knows is destined for Auschwitz. The young woman decided to become a catch: she stays alive, as do her parents, but at the price of her betraying fellow Jews. She’s supposed to have done that, directing a lot of Jews to the Gestapo. That was the peak of the war, between September 1943 and the end of it.
Cast & Crew Crew
Paula Beer as Stella Goldschlag – “I liked the subtle shifts in the character of Stella.”, Beer mentions how she like other characters in the film seemed to feel internally torn as one often encounters a deep moral dilemma one needs to face.
Bekim Latifi as Aaron Salomon – An ally of Stella, who portrays the semi intimate associations strained by the horrors of war.
Damian Hardung as Manfred Kübler – another an important figure in the life of Stella. That, in a great many ways, reflects on diverse interaction patterns that she owns.
Joel Basman as Johnny – a part which provides an understanding and a rounded picture of some of Stella’s more intimate concerns.
Katja Riemann as Toni Goldschlag: Stella’s mother, who strengthens the importance of family and encourages Stella’s choices in the story.
Lukas Miko as Gerd Goldschlag: the father of Stella, representing the family’s pressures and fears during the period.
The film is directed by Kilian Riedhof, and this film’s screenplay is written in collaboration with Marc Blöbaum and Jan Braren. The camera work in the film done by Benedict Neuenfels illuminates the dark and gloomy mood of Berlin in the war, and the music by Peter Hinderthür echoes the feelings in the movie.
Critical Reception
Stella: A Life has received mixed reviews. It has a 6.2 rating out of 10 on imdb, based on 556 votes.
Critics have applauded Paula Beer saying that Stella’s character is very complex and remarkable. On the other hand, some reviews reflect dissatisfaction on the aspects of storytelling of the movie. For example, an imdb user review states that the film is adept technically, with impressive detail to the period but “Destroys the fundamental function of narrative cinema: Storytelling.”
In the case of this film, Rotten Tomatoes has a number of critics. One critic writes that “IT is easy to go along with and a bit too easy to be repetitive but the ambiguity of Stella means Riedhof’s film does not wallow in the worst conventions of the academic.”
The next reviewer mentions that the film is well wrought in terms of artistic direction and movie in general, which “changes with a few increases and reductions action, tension and sexual activity.”
The film criticism available at Cineuropa is mainly concerned with the two facets of the character, Stella, with one being overshadowed by narcissism and the other being a constantly tormented soul because of her deported identity. It is stated that “the complexity of this lady, the narcissism covered by her blond curls and childlike eyes, and the pathos of a deportee for whom shame and guilt burn the most, are the basic mysteries in Riedhof’s new work.”
Conclusion
In this way, ‘Stella: A Life’ is powerful drama examining the life of a woman during her time in Nazi Germany. Thanks to the elaborate production and excellent acting of Paula Beer, the motion picture as it depicts the theme of or, the topic of betrayal and survival has many dilemmas for the audience to ponder regardless of being in the background of one of the most horrific historical facts of humanity.
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