London Film Festival Day 2: Moonlight, A Monster Calls, Christine & More
7. The Dreamed Ones
Documentarian Ruth Beckermann adapts the twenty-year letter exchange between starcrossed lovers Paul, a concentration camp survivor-turned-poet, and Ingeborg, a writer whose father was a Nazi, with actors Laurence Rupp and Anja Plaschg providing spoken renditions of the letters.
It's an interesting idea, though unfortunately executed in almost the least cinematic manner possible, and as such making it through this seemingly lean 89 minute drama does prove a bit of a slog.
Though Beckermann smartly lingers on the facial contortions of the two actors' deliveries and occasionally gives pause to explore these them as people outside of the recording sessions, for the most part it just feels like a more conventional telling of this tragic romance would've ultimately served its more visceral qualities better.
On the plus side, the two central performances are absolutely solid and it captures the emotional rollercoaster of love well enough, but you'll need a strong stomach for flowery poetry to make it all the way through unscathed.
Rating: Not without its potent moments, but there's not much here that wouldn't fit much more nealty inside a radio play (or podcast, even) format. Strictly for poetry fans. 4/10