Henriette Heinze in “Auftauchen” [2006 Germany]

Felicitas Korn wrote and made her directorial debut with “Auftauchen” [Eng. Title: Breaking the Surface] – a notable effort – and rather unforgettable too.

The focal point of the film is Nadja, a young aspiring photographer – about her blossoming career and love life, inextricably affecting each other. It is of course told from a woman’s view point, making it inevitably subjective, and perhaps less credible too. We see Nadja falling for an immature Darius and getting hurt repeatedly – surely the women I’ve known have been more switched-on than her. But I guess ‘love’ can cause people into making irrational judgements. Whatever the case, you get the general idea of what kind of film this is. It also features several sex scenes – some surprisingly explicit even. Nadja is played by a tomboyish-looking Henriette Heinze.

The direction in itself is well done – especially in bringing the best out of the actors playing her lead characters. A lot of Nadja’s predicament is conveyed without dialogues, and it works quite well. The film shows a lot of promise for Ms. Korn, and it would be interesting to see what she makes next.

Here’s also an Amazon.de DVD Link.

.