Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageNo Place to Go (2000)
Director: Oskar Röhler
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The spirit of RW Fassbinder presides over this intense, personal drama. Hanna Flanders might be a distant cousin to Lola or Maria Braun, except that she's based on director Röhler's mother, novelist Giseta Elsner. Like Fassbinder, Röhler links his tragic heroine's psyche to the political sphere. The film's set in 1989, as the Berlin Wall comes down. Germany is high on freedom and truth - in fact, almost everyone Hanna meets on her pilgrimage to Berlin is literally drunk - but the novelist is in despair. A Leninist to her core, long ago rejected by publishers in the West, she mourns the victory of consumerism over the Communist ideal. A woman of a certain age and then some, she's formidable, articulate, and a bag of neuroses, teetering on the high heels of collapse. Röhler gets a brave, brittle performance out of Hannelore Elsner (no relation): together, they don't soften this often ridiculous, lost and unlovely woman, but make us grateful for the small kindnesses she encounters on her way. Shot in stark, sometimes lovely monochrome, and directed with impressive assurance and sensitivity, this is a tough, intelligent film of a kind not often encountered.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Oskar Röhler
Producer: Ulrich Caspar, Käte Ehrmann
Cast: Hannelore Elsner, Vadim Glowna, Jasmin Tabatabai, Lars Rudolph, Michael Gwisdek, Nina Petri, Tonio Arango, Claudia Giesler full cast
Duration: 100 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now