This is, in places, a deeply disturbing film... yet the touching scenes, when they come, have a surprisingly emotional depth.
Comment
09/19/07
Yella (2007)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:49
Fresh:39
Rotten:10
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Chilly and haunting, Yella's atmosphere gets under the skin.
Theatrical Release:2008
Synopsis: Narrowly escaping her volatile ex-husband, Yella (Nina Hoss) flees her small hometown in former East Germany for a new life in the West. She finds a promising job with Philipp (Devid Striesow), a... [More]
Starring: Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Hinnerk Schönemann, Burghart Klaussner
Director: Christian Petzold
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Reviews for Yella
A strange blend of corporate thriller and supernatural mystery.
12/01/08
This disquieting parable about trust and risk wrong-foots us at every turn.
09/21/07
Yella uses Byzantine business deals, corporate shenanigans and sink-or-swim stakes to dramatise the internal negotiation of a character's (and a divided nation's) dreams and anxieties.
09/20/07
This German rip-off of Herk Harvey's 1962 Carnival of Souls replaces the junky eeriness of the original with a disassociated pretentiousness that is more irritating than creepy.
07/11/08
Yella comes off as too intellectual an exercise to be thoughtful or serious entertainment.
03/21/07
Yella clamps down on the viewer with a psychological hold that doesn't immediately reveal itself.
09/18/08
The twist ending that softens the blow of this otherwise unique and atmospheric work is not for me to ruin, but it should be said that it shows a chink in the filmmaker's armor
02/25/09
Yella is a strange beast: a twisty, slightly surreal mystery wrapped around the tedious art of the business deal.
07/28/09
Though the film attests that the director can masterfully dredge up metaphysical dread, it also proves that he needs to learn to avoid easy ways out.
05/14/08
An expertly crafted thriller which offers a pessimistic, though deeply rewarding, glimpse of a society being haunted by its own past.
09/21/07
The film feels far too schematic and, even allowing for its unrelentingly mercenary premise, far too cold to inspire much viewer identification.
05/20/08
The consequences of Reunification are explored in this effective metaphysical thriller.
09/21/07
German writer-director Christian Petzold returns to top form in Yella, another precision-helmed, tightly wound, metaphysical thriller that confirms him as one of Germany's finest middle-generation directors.
03/24/07
Christian Petzold's disquieting German thriller feels modest while you're watching it, but makes a stronger-than-expected impact.
05/16/08
Dressing up a socio-economic critique as a romantic thriller only works if there's enough suspense to keep the audience intrigued.
05/15/08
The adept performances and sharp direction of this thriller allow the viewer to see the writer-director's point: that life in communist East Germany may have been preferable for some to the more prosperous existence in the West.
04/12/08
Strikes a perfect balance between corporate intrigue and metaphysical mystery; his 2007 drama is filled with suspense but ends in delicious ambiguity.
08/01/08
Too obscure and oblique in its aims to completely enthral, Yella manages to get under the skin thanks to Hoss' bewitching performance as the troubled number cruncher and a final reveal that complicates everything that's gone before.
09/18/07
Filmmaker Christian Petzold meets his goal of providing an alienating portrait of the business world.
05/16/08
Latest News for Yella
May 03, 2009:
A German metaphorical Reunification thriller and political allegory equating a blunt and feverish appetite for sex and capitalism. 
More...
March 27, 2009:
A German metaphorical Reunification thriller and political allegory equating a blunt and feverish appetite for sex and capitalism.
More...
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