Afire

The first woman we see in Afire immediately hops on a bicycle, as did the star of Christian Petzold’s Barbara, a favorite that hooked us on the German director’s work. But his movie couldn’t be more different. Now we really need to backtrack and find Petzold’s 2018 picture Transit.

Both Barbara and Petzold’s Phoenix are heavily plotted thrillers and attached to specific historical situations. Afire is more like an Eric Rohmer picture –it begins as a casual character study and tightens into an involving drama of personal relations. The original German title Roter Himmel means ‘Red Sky’ with the added implication that a storm is coming. Petzold’s show doesn’t drop mechanical hints that something terrible is going to happen — yet we become very concerned for these young Germans.

In place of characters in extraordinary circumstances, Afire features a fairly ordinary person with social misalignment issues, who poisons his personal interactions with a negative attitude. In his featurette interview, director Petzold explains that this leading character is partly autobiographical. Events build to a dramatic crisis, yet the movie sticks with its insightful, positive character study.

We analyze older movies in detail, but as Afire is new we’ll try this without major spoilers.

A trip to the Baltic seashore soon turns sour for Leon (Thomas Schubert), a young author convinced that his second book is no good. Leon is the guest of Felix (Langston Uibel), who has a summer house. After Felix’s car breaks down, they must hike for an hour carrying their luggage. Then they discover that Felix’s mother also gave a young woman permission to use the house. Nadja (Paula Beer) doesn’t show herself for a whole day, but her unseen nighttime lovemaking keeps Leon awake.

The house-sharing arrangement could be pleasant, but Leon’s sour attitude colors everything. Unlike the easygoing Felix, Leon reacts negatively to Nadja’s pleasantries. He resents her apparent boyfriend Devid (Enno Trebs), a lifeguard. Leon turns down opportunities to socialize insisting that he must attend to his unfinished book. His publisher Helmut (Matthias Brandt of Babylon Berlin) has arranged to come out for an important discussion, which adds to Leon’s anxiety.

Hovering in the background is the threat of a wildfire in the district. The nearby resort town is under a caution alert, and some roads are rumored to have been cut off. The town’s car services are too tied up to retrieve Felix’s car.

It’s unusual for a movie to focus on such an insufferable main character. The unhappy Leon expects everyone else to share his misery. His housemates are outgoing and positive. Devid is a joker, Felix wins over all with his friendly nature, and Nadja turns out to be a radiant gem. All try to include Leon in their activities.

Leon unfortunately considers all of them his enemy. He excuses himself from swimming in a way that implies that the invite is a thoughtless affront. Leon is attracted to Nadja, but he’s boorish with her as well, as if her openly bright and cheerful manner were some kind of ruse. Nadja is one of those optimists determined to bring out the good in those around her. Leon pushes her patience to the limit. He’s too caught up in himself to appreciate anyone. Nadja even asks Leon if he wants to go for a midnight walk. But his grudge against all is too great — he’d rather stew in resentment than connect with anybody.

An ‘ingrown ego,’ or Striving Hard to Fail.

We all know somebody like Leon, or (ulp) we may recognize some of him in our own moods. Leon has legitimate worries. He’s an ambitious creative person, and he assume that he has some potential because his publisher believes in him enough to take a car trip to visit in person. but Leon’s insecurity brings out an offensive, self-defeating personality. His default reaction is to lash out at those around him for not placing his hidden needs first on their list of priorities.

Leon’s not stupid, just misaligned. He berates himself for returning Nadja’s honest solicitude with veiled hostility. He doesn’t let his housemates know what he needs for Helmut’s visit, and then becomes furious when his housemates greet and entertain the interesting publisher, ‘ruining’ Leon’s crucial meet-up.

Leon also can’t handle the fact that, among these open-minded moderns, anybody can sleep with anybody if they so choose. Nadja’s bedmates are her own business, but Leon behaves as if some sort of a personal rejection is involved. When an additional relationship surfaces, Leon is confused even further.

Leon’s self-absorption blinds him to the riches of other people. He thoughtlessly alienates a hotel manager and a store cashier. Helmut is present for only a few hours, but his interest in his new acquaintences could be the beginning of strong relationships. Leon is shocked to discover that his first impression of Nadja is completely wrong, and based on his own prejudices. He reacts by accusing Nadja of purposely undermining him. He’s an emotional wreck.

How to alienate people without even trying.

Felix and Devid continue to be open and friendly. Helmut seems committed to helping writers ‘find themselves;’ he’s incredibly tolerant of Leon. We experience most things through Leon. The direction frequently shows him observing his housemates from afar, or through a window. He’s always the outsider. Leon first sees Nadja at a medium distance. He peeks at Nadja instead of engaging with her. ↓

Nadja is honestly transparent in her emotions. repeatedly tests Leon’s self-defeating crust, hoping that the dolt will have some kind of breakthrough. A woman you desire invites you on a midnight walk in the woods — in her pajamas — and you beg off?  It’s time to reassess your entire program.

Afire is a mini-Disaster Movie that doesn’t allow the disaster to take over. Our unease grows because it doesn’t follow a conventional thriller format. A fire emergency comes along just as Devid is helping Felix retrieve his car, and just as another of the houseguests is hit by an unexpected health issue. Will Leon just make more excuses?  Will he realize that some things are bigger than himself?

Were impressed by how well the production is scaled to its characters. The house we see was apparently built for the movie. Christian Petzold explains that Afire was a ‘pandemic production’ that replaced a more complicated project, yet it is no less involving than were his previous thrillers. His leading actress Paula Beer lobbied for a role that didn’t require so much suffering.

But Afire does have some distressing scenes toward the finish. It makes use of strategically-chosen special visuals, starting with a warning in the form of a shower of ash.  ↓  A fire is burning in a place where fires are very rare … it affects everything. Forest animals are forced to flee, and driven out into the open. How will Leon react?  Is his basic nature to remain the same?  The final shots give us a hint of this — as before, Leon chooses to observe important ‘relationships’ from afar rather than confront them directly. It’s as if Petzold is attempting to ‘exorcise’ Leon from himself.