Director Tom Tykwer, famous for "Run Lola Run," surprises audiences with his new movie, "The Light," marking the third time Tykwer opens the Berlin Film Festival. While this latest project is deeply personal and revealing for Tykwer, its success in major markets remains to be seen, despite its unconventional musical numbers and a theme steeped in a uniquely German dilemma.
"The Light" is a thought-provoking representation of the generational tension within post-World War II Germany, as well as the apathy and indifference found among their youth. The film tells the story of a group of disengaged Berlin locals and a Syrian refugee who introduces a radical method of interacting with each other.
One key character is Farrah, a woman deeply traumatized and seeking solace in fringe therapies. We are later introduced to the Engels family and their immigrant housekeeper, Alia. Tykwer's narrative style twists disparate lives and situations into a connected whole, gradually revealing the relationships.
The ensuing vignettes paint a family struggling to communicate without turning into animations of their devices. In stirring contrast, Farrah shows empathetic interest, convincing the family members to try her alternative LED therapy. By the finale, the characters' collective engagement is underlined by Farrah's therapy, bringing into the light the triviality of their lives. Ultimately the film poses an unsettling critique of modern apathy, with a lack of compassion creeping into the corners of targeted modern issues.
