It smells of dry pine forests, dusty sand and salty sea spray. Of cold lasagna and dark red wine, of warm wood and sticky tar, of exhaust fumes and paper. Christian Petzold’s new film Afire is so familiar and intimate that you feel immediately in the thick of it. In the midst of our incipient autumn gloom, these 103 minutes of summer melancholy captured on film hit that very sweet spot of longing, desire and nostalgia. Awarded the Silver Bear at the Berlinale, the film is now available exclusively on Mubi. It tells the story of two friends, Felix and Leon, who spend a month in a house by the Baltic Sea. We know the type: these are typical Berliners who come by car and, after a long detour, arrive at the holiday home feeling both excited and suspicious. There they unexpectedly meet Nadja, a seasonal worker doing her doctorate who also lives in the house and regularly and noisily sleeps there with the handsome lifeguard Devid.

In pastel images, a summer romance full of drama, wit and passion unfolds. Felix desires Devid, Leon desires Nadja, Nadja desires the poems of Heinrich Heine and maybe Leon too, but we won’t reveal that here yet. There is eating and working, writing, photographing and swimming, kissing and arguing. The young queer romance intensifies when Leon’s publisher shows up to discuss his new manuscript and the surrounding forest fires draw ever closer. Petzold’s brilliant character studies create an intimate portrait of five different young adults, full of dissecting emotion, clever wit, and subtle tension. Hans’ Fromm’s exceptionally detailed portraiture (cinematography) and Bettina Böhler’s unusual editing create a poetic visual language that supports the equally excellent acting performances of the lead actors. A cautious masterpiece made for long evenings with summer behind us and the next one still so far away.

Text: Alina Herbel / Credit: Mubi

Stream “Afire” now on Mubi.

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