Wakefield Film Society: Lore

Saskia Rosendahl as Lore

This film by Australian director Cate Shortland won awards in film festivals around the world including acting awards for Saskia Rosendahl, 19 at the time, playing the 12- or 14-year old Lore.

The screenplay was based on English writer Rachel Seiffert's first novel "The Dark Room" which was Booker shortlisted in 2001 - and won Rachel the Guardian first novel award. I've attached links below to where you can read more about the book - and even order it from Amazon.

I haven't read the book but, apparently, the title is a reference to photography, a common theme of the book, which has a couple of other storylines. The use of photographs to illustrate the holocaust and Lore's discovery through photographs of her father's complicity in the final solution, for example. And the scene where Lore finds the photos of Thomas's alter ego's family was very poignant.

A clever plot twist when we realise that Thomas wasn't at all what he appeared to be (another photograph here).

Well. Poor baby Peter had a miserable time - not nearly as much fun as that gorgeous little charmer in last year's Las Acacias (a film which has popped up a few times on Film 4 recently).

And Lore's table manners at the end were not untypical of teenagers of my experience.

I first saw this film last year and I must say it was equally powerful viewing the second time around. All-in-all a thought-provoking and memorable experience.

The audience feedback rating was 79%. Your comments:

A
A	Difficult to watch but thought-provoking
A
A	Harrowing but brilliant
A	Excellent film. They can't all be funny.
A	? (Illegible comment)
A	Amazing acting by young cast. Harrowing but brilliant!
A
A	Powerful and painful. A raw film of a perspective rarely seen.
A
A	A difficult film to watch but beautifully directed and performed.
A	Gripping throughout. Poor baby – he didn't appreciate his part.
A	Beautifully performed, a dreamlike quality which accentuated the underlying horror.
A	Very unusual angle.
B	The only thing to emerge for me was that we remembered all the innocents murdered by the Nazis
B	Improved my knowledge of post-war Germany. Very enlightening.
B	Very good – hard to watch – you felt as though you were experiencing it with them.
B
B
B
B	Beautifully acted and very moving story. They all went through so much as did millions of others.
B	Beautiful film. Great cinematography.
B	Extremely interesting! And beautifully filmed.
B	Stunning cinematography. Tense and unresolved, an uncomfortable but riveting watch.
B	Beautiful adaptation of the novel, very moving.
B	A WELL MADE FILM, VERY MOVING, WELL ACTED AND PRODUCED.
B	Excellent – hand-held camera tedious. Interesting perspective from 'other' side.
B	I found the film absorbing and thought the acting by the young boys was superb. It made me think for the first time ever what it must have been like in Germany as a whole as WW2 ended.
C	Well filmed – Lore traumatised to realise her father in the camp – was very well displayed.
C	Coming of age with a difference – terrific performances from a young cast. Could have done without the odd and irritating photography of the vegetation.
C	Interesting look at post-war Germany with realistic drama.
C	Interesting to a certain extent but I fully understood v. little.
D
D
D	Very slow. Rather confusing in places.
D	Too many long meaningful shots – where the meaning was obscure, rather unbelievable.
E	A disjointed story that was very difficult to follow. It was just a series of images.