Letzter Abend (2023)
There’s a quiet story about clinical depression hidden inside the very lively disguise of a rambunctious dinner with friends, in the brilliant German movie Letzter Abend.
One Last Evening, as the movie is called in English, is the work of writer-director Lukas Natrath and writer-actor Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer, with the latter taking on the role of Clemens, who arguably plays the leading role in what is basically a vivid ensemble piece for a talented bunch of actors who (with one or two exceptions) appear to be in their late twenties or early thirties.
Clemens is a talented but troubled musician, who is living in the shadow of the one popular sing-along song he once wrote. Clemens and his girlfriend Lisa (Pauline Werner) are about to move from Hannover to Berlin, for reasons that ostensibly have to do with her medical career.
Yet, there’s a feeling, established early on, that their relationship is not in good shape after Clemens, who got more depressed when the pandemic hit, spent time in a psychiatric hospital following a botched suicide attempt. Can this relationship be saved? Well, at the very least it will be tested to the limit during a farewell dinner with some friends, relatives and even some total strangers.
One of the strongest suits of the movie is that all the characters bring an interesting story to the table, whether it is actor Marcel (Nikolai Gemel), who has lost his job due to breaking COVID-rules while performing; upstairs neighbor Katharina (Susanne Dorothea Schneider) who appears superficially happy but is quietly drowning in her own grief; or even uninvited hippie chick Valerie (Isabelle von Stauffenberg), who becomes a little too moralizing for her own good.
It’s an excellent ensemble, with actors fully inhabiting their roles, helped no doubt by equally excellent writing and directing. Even though it looks like this superbly edited movie was shot on a shoestring budget, Natrath plays an intricate game with light and dark, making the most of the masterful hand-held camera work, and in doing so creates an atmosphere of sad beauty.
As the evening gradually spins out of control, secrets are revealed, old wounds are reopened and emotions run high, before the movie settles on a relatively downbeat ending, that is quietly devastating in its own way.
Spoiler alert:
Because after everyone has left Clemens and Lisa are faced with the question how long the partner of someone with severe mental problems can be expected to carry that weight before you have to get out to stay sane.
If this sounds a little spoiler-ish, I’m sorry, but for me this is the essence of the movie, and yet, there is so much else going on that I’m pretty sure you will want to see it anyway.
Note: Letzter Abend is playing the international festival circuit. So far it has had theatrical releases in Germany and The Netherlands.