“Afire,” the latest film from film festival darling Christian Petzold, unfolds over a summer vacation in the German beachside where frustrated author Leon (Thomas Schubert) deals with a series of complications — both personal and ecological — as he attempts to finish a second novel he knows to be terrible.
“Afire” presents itself as a comedy of barely maintained manners where Leon finds himself surrounded with ample opportunity to break out of his shell but instead chooses to disappear into himself. He scorns the uplifting efforts of his traveling companion Felix (Langston Uibel) and unplanned fellow AirBnB occupant Nadja (Paula Beer) to enjoy the summer sea, instead doing nothing of value with his time alone.
The film’s dry sense of humor persists for so long that when it begins to suddenly break through Leon’s standoffish attitude (without ever altering that attitude, leading to some great awkward, rude humor) the viewer becomes excited to see how the humor actively affects the character’s ever-shifting dynamics with his friends as both continuously develop.
However, as reports of forest fires in the surrounding areas draw closer to the main cast, Leon and his companions’ insecurities begin to blossom into romantic liaisons and surprising emotional revelations. These developments are treated realistically as not character-changing but still important moments to the slow altering of the solipsistic perspective that Leon cultivates out of fear and self-loathing.
The film delicately intertwines drama and comedy as it portrays Leon’s thoughtlessly standoffish behavior and its consequences when Leon gets the isolation he asked for and more loneliness than he was betting on. The conclusion of the forest fire’s spread aligns with the character arcs of the inhabitants of Leon’s vacation home, but thankfully all of these elements refuse to loudly announce themselves to allow viewers to get swept up in the bitter summer vibes “Afire” emanates in waves while they work through each character’s baggage.
The film portrays no grand ending or epic conclusion, and even harbors a conspicuous lack of actual on-screen fire. The one moment that Leon tries for a tangible connection gets undercut and complicated immediately to the point of losing any sincere affect, which works well to demonstrate the film’s appeal to those who want a much more subtle, opaque drama than usually offered to cinemagoers. While not for everybody, “Afire” offers plenty of meat on the bone to consider after the credits roll.
4 flaming hogs out of 5
