This crisply made thriller begins as a harrowing tale of a young German woman stalked by her deranged ex-husband, but quickly turns into an investigation of the murkier depths of capitalism.
Comment
09/05/08
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
Top CriticA neat metaphysical thriller.
09/21/07
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
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
Exquisitely frigid, menacing, disquieting, with a storyline that keeps you off-balance, marred only by a slightly hackneyed dénouement.
09/21/07
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
It’s one of those films that keeps swirling in your brain once it’s done -- thanks both to its somewhat unresolved ending and to the many subtle themes touched on throughout.
05/12/08
Top CriticTricky and insinuating, this German drama has the subtle subtext of a thriller as it follows a woman caught at a crossroads in her life. It's a little aloof and dry, but very well made.
09/21/07
Yella is a reserved young woman with unrevealed depths of intelligence, larceny and passion. Their gradual revelation makes this more than an ordinary thriller, in great part because of the performance of Nina Hoss in the title role.
08/01/08
Top CriticGerman 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
Top CriticThis calculating drama is firmly on the money.
09/21/07
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
[A] tightly controlled metaphysical horror movie.
09/18/08
Unfortunately, a gimmicky construction helps the writer-director avoid facing the consequences of the drama he's set up.
09/29/07
Its scenes involving the perilous business negotiations offer more genuine intellectual excitement than any CGI-stuffed chase.
05/16/08
While too lean and unassuming to provide real chills, Yella is a cool, disorienting trip, a meditation on death and the complexity of the human brain.
09/19/08
Yella is the kind of movie that tantalizes the mind with possibilities without solving the puzzle.
05/16/08
Top CriticAn expertly crafted thriller which offers a pessimistic, though deeply rewarding, glimpse of a society being haunted by its own past.
09/21/07
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
Top CriticThe 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
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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