‘Cicadas’ Review: Nina Hoss’ Second Go-Round With ‘The Audition’ Director Doesn’t Live Up to the Buzz

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In the film “Cicadas,” renowned German actress Nina Hoss, who also serves as an executive producer, teams up once again with director Ina Weisse, following their collaboration on the 2019 drama “The Audition.” In this new project, Hoss portrays Isabell, a 48-year-old real estate agent in Berlin, struggling to balance caring for her elderly parents while dealing with the disintegration of her childless marriage to a French engineer. Simultaneously, she finds herself attracted to Anja (played by Saskia Rosendahl), a struggling single mother from rural Brandenburg, near where Isabell’s architect father built an impressive modernist home. The narrative in “Cicadas” unfolds across multiple, non-cohesive storylines and is burdened with underdeveloped background information, making it more puzzling than engaging.

The primary message of the film revolves around family ties, emphasizing the responsibilities parents have towards their children and vice versa – a point that director-writer Weisse seems intent on getting viewers to reflect upon. She reinforces this family theme by choosing her real-life parents, Rolf (an architect) and Inge (an art teacher), to play Isabell’s parents on screen. This works well from an acting perspective, but considering the film’s overall confusion, it leaves one questioning whether Weisse might be using the movie as a means of personal therapy or self-exploration.

The movie sets up contrasting family scenarios for Isabell and Anja from the start. As Anja frantically searches for her rebellious daughter Greta, who’s disappeared into the woods, a convoy of cars pulls up to an estate in the countryside. Inside these vehicles are Inge, Isabell, her father’s caregiver from Poland, and Rolf, who uses a wheelchair due to a stroke.

As a movie enthusiast, I find myself grappling with the predicament faced by Rolf and Inge regarding their country home. The windows leak, gutters require cleaning, pests seem to have taken up residence, and finding a caretaker who can meet Rolf’s expectations has proven challenging. Isabell suggests selling it off, but Rolf remains resolute in his refusal. Despite his diminished state, it’s evident that he still wields significant influence over his wife and daughter, who dote on him unwaveringly. To drive the point home, Weisse strategically incorporates some peculiar dialogue throughout the film that underscores this fact.

Unlike Isabell’s family, I’ve been struggling to keep my head above water financially. After getting let go from my job washing dishes in a bustling kitchen, I picked up odd jobs at the local bowling alley, where I constantly have to ward off the unwanted advances of the peculiar manager Uwe (Thorsten Merten). As I toil away, the untidy Greta roams freely without supervision, tagging along with some shady older boys.

As a captivated viewer, I find Weisse skillfully maintains an enigmatic dynamic between Isabell and Anja, pushing it towards the realm of intense emotional drama. Could it be that barren Isabell somehow resonates with needy Anja and her troubled child? Or perhaps there’s a hint of sapphic attraction at play? Yet, it could also be something more sinister, similar to the manipulative nature portrayed in “Strangers on a Train” or “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” as we’ve seen Anja deceive. All these possibilities are intriguing, yet none are fully unraveled, making the cryptic, unresolved ending all the more frustrating.

Simultaneously, whenever Isabell’s husband Philippe (Vincent Macaigne) appears on screen, the tone of the movie shifts from serious drama to absurd comedy. From abandoning Isabell at the airport for a vacation without her, to returning home and announcing grandly “Our life together is not what I imagined it would be,” to unexpectedly showing up at the countryside house after his prostate operation, equipped with a colostomy bag, his acting feels like it belongs in a totally different film. It’s especially strange when, lying on the couch with his arm extended as if inviting Anja to hold his hand, he begins speaking to her in English and asks “Are you attracted to her?” The expression on Anja’s face echoes the discomfort and incredulity that the audience feels.

The edits also lead to perplexity. Once more collaborating with her “Audition” editor Hansjörg Weissbrich, Weisse prefers brief sequences without smooth transitions and abundant pauses. One moment the characters are in Berlin, the next they are in the countryside. Scenes that could have been developed further; the concluding one, as well as another where Greta and the troublesome men wreak havoc within Isabell’s country home, are put together in an unsatisfying fashion.

In “The Audition,” Hoss had more material to work with, but she remains engaging in her ambiguous blonde character, which seems like something she could perform effortlessly. Conversely, Rosendahl’s portrayal is hindered by a lack of a defined character development arc. Much like other aspects of the film, the title, “Cicadas,” fails to significantly contribute to the overall narrative drama.

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2025-02-16 09:46