AEIOU: A Quick Alphabet of Love

AEIOU – Still Photo by Reinhold Vorschneider © Komplizen Film Fiction, drama
Germany/France, 2022, 105 min.

Language: German/English/French with English subtitles
Original title: AEIOU – Das schnelle Alphabet der Liebe
Director/screenwriter: Nicolette Krebitz
Cinematographer: Reinhold Vorschneider
Cast: Sophie Rois, Udo Kier, Milan Herms, Nicolas Bridet
German producers: Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade (Komplizen Film)
Festivals: Berlinale 2022 (Competition), Warsaw 2022, Cork 2022, Edinburgh 2022, Adelaide 2022, Jerusalem 2022, Sydney 2022, Riga 2022, Philadelphia 2022

Nicolette Krebitz’s latest film solidifies her burgeoning reputation as an investigator of the more idiosyncratic tendencies of human emotion. Subverting genre tropes at every opportunity, Krebitz’s playful romance maintains an air of magical realism that never crosses the line into whimsy. Instead, the film employs an arsenal of formal tactics to tell the story of Anna, an aging actress and voice teacher who develops a curious bond with Adrian, one of her students.

The film deftly navigates some tricky terrain with a lightness of touch that makes the film a thrillingly open experience. AEIOU: A Quick Alphabet of Love presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of our own connections, how we might nurture them and perhaps even find love and meaning in the process. – Jim Kolmar

Presented with Jan Soldat’s Staging Death