CLEO by Erik Schmitt

Next in our series German Cinema @ Suchitra is Cleo by Erik Schmitt.

"Beneath every cobblestone in this city lies buried treasure": since childhood, this has been Cleo's motto. Following the death of her father, however, with whom she always hunted for treasure, she decides not to pursue any more dreams. That’s until Paul, an even bigger dreamer, enters her life. He possesses a treasure map meant to lead to the hiding places used by the Sass brothers - the legendary Berlin safecrackers from the Weimar Republic era, said to have acquired a magic clock that can turn back time.

During a frantic treasure hunt through Berlin, overflowing with visual ideas, Cleo repeatedly meets personalities from the past who offer good advice, from Marlene Dietrich to Heinrich Schliemann and Albert Einstein.

Full of wit and bizarre supporting characters, Cleo is above all a love letter to the city of Berlin, with all its layers of history, and a big city fairytale, as playful as it is romantic.