The award-winning "Sonja" is a German German-language live action movie from 2006, so this one is almost 15 years old now, maybe more when you read this review not immediately after I posted it. The writer and director is Kirsi Liimatainen and this is probably her most known work and I cannot deny it surprised me a bit to see a Finnish filmmaker in charge here. But she did not only have a nice eye ant attention to detail, but also came up with a quality script here, also with nice attention to detail. The cast does not include a single name I think that I have come across so far and I am a huge German film buff, which says quite something. However, luckily that is not a problem at all as I felt basically every single actor, also these with little to no screen time did a good job. The title character is portrayed by Sabrina Kruschwitz and this was her very first acting role ever and for that I think she carried the film nicely, especially in how she showed us Sonja's pain and struggling with the situation and her teenage angst that also results in struggles with her parents in the sense of suthority figures. A bit sad to see that she has not acted in a decade now and her career is probably over. But I also want to mention Julia Kaufmann, not only because she was really stunning, and I think she wasn't any worse than Kruschwitz honestly and it is equally shocking for me to see that she has never acted before or after this one in a film again. What a disappointment, cannot believe she did not get cast. I felt the two girls had great chemistry.
It is also a nicely atmospheric film and I liked editing and especially cinematography. It is clearly an underseen movie and the quality is even more impressive if you look how many really bad LBGT films / gay-themed films have been released over the years, also short films, but this one here is quality almost from beginning to end. It is not a long film at all, runs for 75 minutes and that includes credits already. I assume the 72 refers to without credits. But it is not important. I like how they were not including random pointless and forgettable stuff to reach 90 minutes or so. I must say the only scenes I did not like was when early on in the last third of the film you could say she went away for a little while to be with her dad. And the strange romantic encounter that happened there. Yes she may have been insecure concerning her sexuality, but I don't think this was really what would happened realistically in the same scenario, and making her mother jealous is also not good enough of an explanation. But this is just a minor criticism.
I would not call this film a hidden gem, but it is a good film without a doubt, certainly a contender for best 10, maybe even best 5 German movies from 2006. Acting and script and other production values should inspire you to check this one out. The ending is the best example. You want Sonja to find happiness and stop struggling with her affection for her best friend, but it is not working out. No forced unrealistic happy ending, even if for all I care, she Liimatainen may have gotten away with it. Julia's comment that she loves her too and then says that she cannot deal with it / do it eventually leaving Sonja behind really made me sad. But it was the right choice, the best choice to end this film. I give it a thumbs-up. Watch it if you get your hands on a copy. It is probably not too easy to find these days. But it is worth the effort and a rewarding watch overall.
It is also a nicely atmospheric film and I liked editing and especially cinematography. It is clearly an underseen movie and the quality is even more impressive if you look how many really bad LBGT films / gay-themed films have been released over the years, also short films, but this one here is quality almost from beginning to end. It is not a long film at all, runs for 75 minutes and that includes credits already. I assume the 72 refers to without credits. But it is not important. I like how they were not including random pointless and forgettable stuff to reach 90 minutes or so. I must say the only scenes I did not like was when early on in the last third of the film you could say she went away for a little while to be with her dad. And the strange romantic encounter that happened there. Yes she may have been insecure concerning her sexuality, but I don't think this was really what would happened realistically in the same scenario, and making her mother jealous is also not good enough of an explanation. But this is just a minor criticism.
I would not call this film a hidden gem, but it is a good film without a doubt, certainly a contender for best 10, maybe even best 5 German movies from 2006. Acting and script and other production values should inspire you to check this one out. The ending is the best example. You want Sonja to find happiness and stop struggling with her affection for her best friend, but it is not working out. No forced unrealistic happy ending, even if for all I care, she Liimatainen may have gotten away with it. Julia's comment that she loves her too and then says that she cannot deal with it / do it eventually leaving Sonja behind really made me sad. But it was the right choice, the best choice to end this film. I give it a thumbs-up. Watch it if you get your hands on a copy. It is probably not too easy to find these days. But it is worth the effort and a rewarding watch overall.