Phoenix

Germany // 98 min // 2014 // Director: Christian Petzold

Having escaped the concentration camp with a disfigured face, the Jewish woman Nelly now returns to Germany after the end of World War 2. Her ex-husband does not know that she has survived. Nelly is looking for him, although he once betrayed her to the Nazis-at least, this is what her friend Lene believes. Johnny does not recognize her-he only perceives a similarity to his former wife, which is something he wants to take advantage of: Nelly should pretend to be his wife, so that he can obtain the fortune of his, as he believes, deceased spouse. Phoenix tells the story of a homecoming that is no longer possible and an identity that is seemingly lost forever.