European Films

Traditional role reversals alone are not enough to make a good film, as the 2007 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Gegenüber (Counterparts) proves. Shot by debuting German director Jan Bonny in the bare-bones way of bleak family dramas from the North, this tale of a respected police officer who is beaten by his wife at home is interesting for its portrayal of a type of domestic violence rarely seen on screen, but offers little else beyond this new angle and two very brave performances. Prospects on the festival and arthouse circuit might be only a little brighter than the film itself, though in German-language countries, if cleverly marketed, it could profit from a topic-driven discussion in the media.

 

Bonny opens the film with a police operation that has a officer piss his pants as his colleague Georg (Matthias Brandt, in fine form) saves the day. That the film is no police procedural or a thriller is clear from the way in which it is shot and edited; Bonny only focuses on the human element on the side of the police, leaving out shots to the point that the actual operation itself is incomprehensible, which forces the audience to concentrate on the characters and Georg’s heroic act.

 

The hero of the strong arm of the law is married to primary school teacher (Victoria Trauttmansdorff, excellent), with both children already in university. They are not a happy family, however, as their son Lukas wants to quit but is afraid to tell them; Anne and Georg have to rely on Anne’s parents for the tuition fees and Anne’s violent temper leads her to hit and abuse her husband as if he were a punching ball. Surprisingly, Georg seems to accept this as part of their relationship; he is such a serious man that he believes his wedding vows are indeed forever and should be explained to mean that people stay together no matter what. "I strive for consistency," he at one point remarks. If only he realised how truthful that admission was.  

 

His relationship with his wife also has it good moments when both are very lovey-dovey, but the bigger family problems have a way of always taking over the conversation -- both verbal and otherwise -- at the most inopportune moments. In one of their moments of happiness, a colleague of Georg observes them kissing before saying "Happy couples make me puke," to which Anne responds: "I’m not always happy". Anne never seems to move beyond this recognition to fix her issues, however, and her husband only endures it as if he were a loyal pet, which makes their story sometimes hard to believe. A little more explanation for their emotional dead ends might have helped.

 

The film is set during the Advent period leading up to Christmas, but though more candles are lit as days turns into weeks and the anticipation for the advent of the Holy Family grows, things barely brighten up inside the couple’s home (the dark cinematography does not help much either). Gegenüber’s last thirty-odd minutes have an increasingly surreal touch, including a scene set at a silent party at their apartment that Georg celebrates with his colleagues while Anne is asleep, a sequence in which Georg kisses a female colleague before deciding to head home where he finds his pants-pissing colleague busy on the couch with Anne, and a revenge visit to the same colleague’s flat that includes a full tour of the house as well as free whiskey.

 

These later scenes add some much needed humour but also make the proceedings even less believable. Generally speaking, Gegenüber is bleak without being poignant, and the film’s attempts at absurd and black humour push the already not very developped characters into the realm of cliché, where a simple role reversal is all that is needed for some good laughs. A good film, however, might need something more.

 

 

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