Yella Review

Christian Petzold’s 2007 film Yella is a thriller that follows a woman called Yella, played by Nina Hoss, trying to make it big in business after a traumatic episode with her obsessive ex-husband.

Yella has had enough of her life in the former East Germany. This may be due to living with her father. Or perhaps it’s down to her doing a job she’s fed up doing. Most likely is that she wants to escape the psychotic grip of her ex-husband Ben (Hinnerk Schonemann) who is stalking her.

After deciding upon leaving town and moving to Hanover for better job prospects, she, somewhat misguiding, takes a lift from Ben who says he wants to take her. He promises to behave. Behaving is clearly not on the agenda though, as Ben drives them both off a bridge into a river.  Although soaking, Yella escapes the sinking car, still makes her train and heads to Hanover where she meets Phillip (Devid Striesow), an executive at a private equity company who, despite subtly resembling Ben, takes Yella under his wing.

And so begins the film. And Yella’s new life in the cut-throat world of boardrooms. Petzold does not rely on flashy direction, quick editing or a best-selling soundtrack to draw viewers in; for an 87 minute movie it takes its time. And rightly so. The pacing of the film allows for moments of chilling atmospherics as Yella begins to hear and see an ever increasing pattern of sounds and motifs.

Wind brushing through trees and a strange underwater sound swells and seems to deafen only Yella in meetings with clients. A phantom crow caws whilst she sits in her hotel room. All the while, she continues to have visions of Ben. Has Yella lost her mind or are more supernatural forces in motion?

The film is intriguing throughout and drips moments of eeriness and possible revelation just at moments when the business jargon may start to feel heavy.

Yella appears to be making some sort of comment around financial and business differences between East and West Germany particular with the ever prominent red colour that seeps into the frame at any given moment. However, these (as they did on me) may be entirely lost on a non-German audience.

Now this might not sound all that thrilling; and in all honesty, it isn't. Yella is a film that you take at it's own pace and find things you want to find from it. Theres enough legroom in the plot and several blanks that are avaliable for you can choose to fill however you may wish (if indeed you can be bothered at all). Some may find it slow. I didn't. However this may be down to watching Julia beforehand, a film so slow that it would make watching paint dry something of an adrenaline rush.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Whilst the films business moments occasionally dragged, they did evoke rare moments of humour and the film’s ending only served to evoke curiosity. Yella is by no means faultless but is certain to be a film that you either find dull and frustrating or quietly engrossing and intriguing. I liked the film more upon reflection than I did watching it, and I suppose that pretty much tells you all you need to know.