309) Everyone Else (2009)

309) Everyone Else (2009) Dir: Maren Ade Not Yet Released Date Seen: September 24, 2009 Rating: 3.75/5

The only thing I could possibly complain about German filmmaker Maren Ade's Everyone Else, an involving and rich portrait of a couple as their relationship disintegrates, is its apparent bias. Ade's scenario focuses almost entirely on Gitti's (Birgit Minichmayr) perspective though that's partly out of necessity because Chris (Lars Eidinger) is usually too distant to be read. My complaint is minor considering how the nervous tension never slackens and none of its inter-related episodes ever feel extraneous. 

Ade achieves a level of intimacy with her characters that neither feels forced nor like its based on overt judgments of their behavior. She allows them to be brutally honest, even when they don't feel like explicitly sharing their emotions with each other and thanks to a terrific cast all around, including Hans-Jochen Wagner and Nicole Marischka as the couple's foil, it seems all too real. I need to rewatch this one.