Phoenix

$12 general admission | $6 student | Member benefits may apply

The Best Films of the 21st Century

We’re borrowing a page from The New York Times and it’s suddenly-everywhere list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century, we’ll be sharing pairs of our favorites throughout the rest of the century, starting with these two, which are both in the Top 50.

A wild riff on Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Christian Petzold’s Phoenix is like no other film about post–World War II Jewish-German identity. Set in a devastated, ruined, post-WWII Berlin, the film hones in on Nelly, a former cabaret singer who has somehow survived Auschwitz and now, with her disfigured face reconstructed, has returned to Berlin to seek out her gentile husband, who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis. And then it gets pretty crazy. Are we watching a revenge film or a tale of romantic reconciliation? One doesn’t know until the superb closing scene of this marvel from Christian Petzold, one of the most important figures in contemporary German cinema.

As Nelly, Nina Hoss gives one of the great performances of the young century, and her final scene is one you’ll probably revisit on Youtube, over and over, like we do.

You may also like the following events from Vermont International Film Festival:

• Next Thursday, 24th July, 07:00 pm, Familiar Touch in Burlington
• Next Saturday, 26th July, 07:00 pm, Era Oculta in Burlington
• Next month, 22nd August, 04:00 pm, Sorry, Baby in Burlington

Also check out other Entertainment events in Burlington, Music events in Burlington.