The films of Ulrich Köhler

Bungalow (2002)
Sleeping Sickness (2011)
In My Room (2018)

Unlike previously, I started in the middle. The first Ulrich Köhler feature I saw was Sleeping Sickness his 3rd out of 5 features. Although, when I saw the film it was his newest and thereby last. A single film doesn’t highlight the themes or signature elements of a director. That is why seeing two of his other films as part of a double bill was an eye-opening experience and helped place Sleeping Sickness nicely in Köhler’s style.

Alienation, loneliness, isolation. These words appeared over and over again when viewing Ulrich Köhler films in quick succession.

Bungalow

In the early moments of Bungalow, the elements of isolation and loneliness stand out. At the film’s start, we observe a group of soldiers following orders as they disembark in unison from their truck and make their way to McDonald's while ordinary civilians look on. When the captain calls the soldiers back to the truck, they walk back without any protests. Except one. Paul (Lennie Burmeister) continues to sit with a civilian, taking his time and missing his ride back on the truck. It is clear that unlike the rest of the Germans, Paul doesn’t want to follow. He is deserting his military duties. Instead, Paul goes back to his parents house to just rest, chill. Since his parents are away, Paul expects to have the house to himself but he is surprised to find his brother Max (Devid Striesow) and new girlfriend Lene (Trine Dyrholm) show up. Paul takes an immediate liking to Lene. Even though events are presented in a minimalist manner, there appears to be an undercurrent of tension akin to what Maren Ade brilliantly showed in Everyone Else. The overall style and tone of Bungalow also aligns the film within the ‘Berlin School’ movement similar to that of Christian Petzold.

Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping Sickness continues the lonely isolated theme of Köhler’s cinema by showing two of the main characters preferring to stay in Africa rather than return to Germany. Ebbo (Pierre Bokma) in Sleeping Sickness is cut from the same cloth as Paul. On another note, Ebbo also shares some traits with the character of Johann (Peter Ketnath) in Marcelo Gomes’ Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures. In Gomes’ film, Johanna leaves Germany due to WWII and wants to stay in Brazil.

In My Room

In My Room takes the lonely element from Köhler’s films to its ultimate extreme when Armin (Hans Löw) wakes up one day to find that he is the only human left on the planet. All the other humans, male and female, have mysteriously disappeared. In My Room perfectly encapsulates all of Köhler’s signature elements.

Reading

1. Michael Sicinski on In My Room

2. Mark Peranson on Sleeping Sickness

3. David Hudson on Sleeping Sickness

4. Dennis Lim's Cannes interview with Ulrich Köhler

5. Vadim Rizov's interview related to In My Room

Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping Sickness (2011, Germany co-production, Ulrich Köhler)

Ulrich Köhler's film was my first choice for a German film entry for the Euro 2012 Book & Film Spotlight. However, the film only got a limited theatrical release in Canada (Toronto & Vancouver) and was not available for viewing prior to the Euro deadline of June 2012. Therefore, I had to leave the film out of the spotlight. Thankfully, the film is now available across Canada via Films We Like & iTunes and I am glad to have seen the film in 2012. Sleeping Sickness is indeed a mesmerizing film and it is easy to see why this film was #9 in Cinema Scope's Best of 2011 list. Cinema Scope's editor, Mark Peranson, has an excellent essay which outlines the film's beauty and charm. The entire essay is worth reading but I want to focus on the following:

Though there is a slight mirroring of Ebbo and Alex, there’s nothing simple about it, and this structural looseness is perhaps the closest that Köhler’s version of the cinema of the opaque comes to Apichatpong; to make this comparison due to the mere presence of a jungle is indicative of lazy thinking, akin to bringing up Claire Denis because she’s also a European filmmaker shooting in Africa. Indeed, I suspect most people who will watch Sleeping Sickness, like myself, will have formed their views of Africa through fiction, literature or film made by Europeans—hence the many comparisons of Sleeping Sickness to Joseph Conrad or Graham Greene (Köhler says the film was sparked by Sudanese author Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, and indeed the main characters are richly novelistic and complex—they jump off the page).

I had not read his essay prior to seeing the film but surprisingly found myself thinking of both Claire Denis & Apichatpong while watching Sleeping Sickness. Peranson attributes this comparison as "lazy thinking" but atleast qualifies it with the following words that are true in my case: "most people who will watch Sleeping Sickness,...,will have formed their view of African through fiction, literature or film made by Europeans". It is not true that any film shot in Cameroon by a European brings Claire Denis to mind. In my case, the comparison to Denis' White Material came about by seeing Ebbo's isolation. In the first part of the film, it is shown that the sleeping sickness disease is almost cured and no longer an epidemic. That means there is no need for further funding and Ebbo can conclude his work & return to Germany. Yet, he does not return home like his wife. He stays behind for a further three years and becomes as isolated like Isabelle Huppert's Maria in White Material. Both Ebbo & Maria appear to be clinging on desperately so as to avoid returning back to Europe. It is clear that it will take a lot of effort to force both Maria & Ebbo to leave Africa. In Maria's case, Africa is her home and she has a business to protect while Ebbo seems to have developed a deeper connection with his surroundings. One part of Ebbo wants to return back but another part wants to live in the jungle. This inner struggle causes him to appear on the edge, one step away from ending it all. The Apichatpong reference also jumps out not only because of the jungle but the presence of a key transformation that occurs near the end of a film divided in two parts. Like Tropical Malady, there is a connection between the two parts shown in the film and the hippo transformation that takes place near the film's end is mentioned in the first part.

Overall, Sleeping Sickness is unique and manages to haunt one's memory long after the film's final image.

As a late correction to the Euro 2012 Spotlight, I decided to plug Sleeping Sickness into the game 1 results to see how the final group standings would get impacted. Currently, game 1 results show Portugal's Mysteries of Lisbon defeating Germany's Storm by a 5-1 margin. With Sleeping Sickness taking part instead of Storm, this is how things would turn out:

Germany (Sleeping Sickness) vs Portugal (Mysteries of Lisbon)

Acting: Portugal
Story: Both Portugal & Germany
Direction: Germany
Cinematography: Germany
Production: Both Portugal & Germany

Final result would see Germany prevail 4-3 over Portugal. As a result, Germany would get 3 points and Portugal 0. Therefore, the final group standings would look like this:

Team         Points   Goal Difference 

Portugal     6            5 - 3
Holland      6            5 - 3
Germany    4            5 - 5
Denmark    1            3 - 6

Portugal & Holland would end up with the same number of points and goal difference. But Portugal would still take first place due to their 1-0 win over Holland which will be used as a head-to-head tie-breaker. Therefore, the top 2 spots in the group won't get altered which means all the results from the quarter-finals onwards would remain the same.