Flucht in den Norden

“Klaus Mann’s novel as the cinematic reading of a past present. The focus is not on drama, the theatrical event, but rather on the searching gaze of the cinematographer, the bodies’ visible speech, movement. Instead of illustrating the story with action or tension, Ingemo Engström tends to model tableaus that formulate lasting moods: the atmosphere of a time torn asunder. The 1934 book reflects on the beginning of Nazi rule in highly radical fashion (and anticipated its consequences in highly precise fashion too). Set against this, Engström’s film emphasizes the personal problems of this problematic era as a general conflict—as an eternal argument between the private happiness of a passionate love and the social responsibility of political (here antifascist) engagement. The story functions here like a central theme that helps the viewer to discover what would otherwise remain forgotten. A young woman flees from Germany in 1933. Her friends are already living in Paris in exile. She herself first visits a friend in Finland.” (Norbert Grob)