Grüne Wüste (3 Stars)

Yes, I admit it. At the moment I'm on a German film kick. This isn't as unusual as it sounds. In the early days of cinema the films that were the most successful and also the most critically acclaimed were made in Germany. This started in the early 1900's with the first silent movies, and continued until the Second World War. People who closely followed the dialogue in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" already know this. The praise that is spoken for the films made during Hitler's rule is genuine. It wasn't until after the war that Hollywood became the major force in world cinema. Even today German films are worth watching, probably more than those made in any other non-English languages.

"Grüne Wüste" translates as "Green Wilderness", referring to the endless green when the children look down on the trees in the valley, and the film is subtitled "Whatever happens I shall always remain with you". It's a weepy coming of age drama about first love. Katja and Johann are 13 and live in a small farming community near the woods, the Odemwald in the south east of Germany. Their childhood friendship develops into a romance. When playing in a ruined castle they discover the grave of a knight buried in his armour, and they spend all their time carefully digging up the body, planning to open a museum when they're grown up. But the relationship doesn't run smoothly. Katya's mother is having an affair with Johann's father, oblivious to the fact that Katya is traumatised by seeing her mother with two different men. Things deteriorate further when Johann is diagnosed with cancer.

This is a deeply disturbing film. I found the scenes where Johann was in hospital so unsettling that I had difficulty watching the rest of the film. It's not a bad film, on the contrary, but it's not a film that will make the viewer feel better.