OK, here’s a movie like none you’ve seen before – not that this is always a good thing…The offbeat German film Finsterworld peels back the orderly veneer of German society to reveal odd subcultures (they have Furries and foot fetishists in Germany, too). Finsterworld (the title presumably punned after its writer director Frauke Finsterwalder) begins and ends with Cat Stevens’ bubbly The Wind and perks along like a quirky comedy, until it descends into a scathing and pessimistic assessment of German society.
The story follows a pedicurist, a documentation, a traffic cop, a forest hermit, some high school kids, a rich couple and a teacher who are revealed to be interconnected – and all deeply troubled under the surface. Ranging from quirky to twisted to downright evil, the characters are cursed with collective guilt from You Know What (hint: 1933-1945).
I must point out that there is one unforgettable scene of (all things) cookie-baking – at once appalling, disgusting and very funny.
Finsterworld, which had its North American Premiere at Cinequest, has its moments and never drags. But engaging with the film depends on whether you’re ready for a cynical and hopeless assessment of today’s Germans.