The latest from Berlin School genre deconstructor Christoph Hochhäusler takes the shape of a noirish psycho-thriller to interrogate thorny themes of gender, sexuality, and identity
performance. A main-slate competitor at this year’s Berlinale (and winner of Best Supporting Performance for Thea Ehre’s astonishing turn), Till the End of the Night plunges the viewer into Frankfurt’s nocturnal underworld where trans convict Leni (Ehre, herself trans), in exchange for parole, assumes the role of girlfriend to straight-playing cop Robert (Timocin Ziegler) to infiltrate a drug trafficking network run by her former boss. That Robert was Leni’s lover before she transitioned—and that he stills holds a flame for her, destabilizing his sexual identity—further complicates the deep-cover operation. Part pulpy policier, part multilayered romance, Hochhäusler’s polarizing sixth feature summons the work of forefather R.W. Fassbinder in its queering of genre fare and tenor of doomed romanticism.
“Compellingly dense in story and style, [Till the End of the Night] also has a tight-fisted atmosphere created by its gorgeous, gray-shaded, and layered cinematography … This is a reminder of what a cinema-steeped director like Hochhäusler can do: You can’t help but feel the norms of cinema being tweaked and torqued under his sharp gaze.”
Marko Stojiljković, Cineuropa
Language:
In German with English subtitles
Genre:
DRAMA
Runtime:
123 min
YEAR:
2023
Awards:
- Bulgarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards 2018
- Golden Rose Festival of Bulgarian film: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Critics Gild Award and Audience Award