User Reviews

"Milchwald" or "Verloren" or "This Very Moment" or "In This Very Moment" is a German 1.5-hour film from 2003 written and directed by Christoph Hochhäusler and this was his first full feature movie I think. He got help with the writing from Benjamin Heisenberg and their effort here will have its 15th anniversary next year. The cast does not really any particularly well-known names. Even I as a German film buff cannot say I am really familiar with the performers here. It is the story of a young stepmom dealing with her two stepchildren and she makes a really fateful decision as a consequence. This is somewhat the opening, the prologue here you could say, but it is also by far the best part of the film for sure. Afterward, the kids' biological father search for the two is in the center of it all as is the woman's longing for the father's affection as is the kids' fate. This is never a film that has us wonder if the kids will live or die or what exactly would happen to them as even after their disappearance they stay a vital part of the story. At least for us, the audience. For the parents characters not so much, at least not visually.

All in all, this film had a bit of a Wenders touch to it and for a first work, it is a pretty good achievement, even if Hochhäusler did not manage to keep the high level from early on. But I am not surprised his career has gotten better and better since this one and he is slowly making his way into the elite of German filmmakers. I also liked the atmospheric touch here. It is much more of a character study, of a family drama and it never tries to be a kidnapping thriller between life and death. And in my opinion that was really the right choice. So was the ending. No need to go for forced happy endings. Authenticity stays the most important component and the last shot was really good. The actors are all fairly solid too. They don't need to be likable to make an impact and this especially refers to the young girl. Everything here feels authentic like something that really could have happened and as if I was watching actual people. No doubt I give these almost 90 minutes a thumbs-up. It may not too easy these days anymore to get your hands on a copy for this one, especially abroad, but I think it is among the better for sure that German cinema had to offer in the year 2003. Go see it.

This is a modern version of the Grimm fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It consists of two cross-cut story lines: one tells about the abandoned children's odyssey, the other shows the actions of father and stepmother. The latter unfortunately is rather weak: we see two people in their big, empty house, who can have sex with each other but are unable to communicate. The old cliché. Very lame. The other storyline is much better. It's definitely fun to watch the children's journey and how they torment the poor polish guy who tries to help them. Some scenes are really great, for example the ones around the bus station.

SPOILER AHEAD

Now let's talk about the "ending" of the film. Some would call it an "open ending", but truth is: there is no ending at all. The story lines are simply cut off. On the DVD there is an interesting interview where the director talks about his decision how the ending should look like. His explanations seemed quite nonsensical to me. I have to stress that when you watch this film with its cross-cut story lines of children and parents, it is natural that the thing you anticipate the most is the (catastrophic?) confrontation between the protagonists. If this confrontation doesn't take place, it must be disappointing. I still feel cheated by the author.

END OF SPOILER

"Milchwald" seems to be typical for a certain kind of German film: it's intelligent, focused, uncompromising and beautiful, yet seriously flawed. The problem is not that it moves slow. The problem is that it lacks sensuality. The conscious effort to keep it cool, keep it cold, is too obvious for my taste. Other people, however, may like this style. So if you have a weakness for German art cinema, go and watch it.

P.S.: I'd like to ask the author: what does the German title mean?? It sounds cool, but I don't see any connection with the film.

This movie is one of the worst German movies I have ever watched -- all of the characters are emotionless (the children literally do not cry when they are dropped off in Poland), the father is naive and an idiot, and the stepmother is a terrible person whose storyline is never solved. Nobody in the film is likable at all. I think the director was a bit weird -- the film has child nudity for a shot and children are put in uncomfortable sexual situations -- sex pops up randomly all over the film. Beyond dropping the kids off in the countryside, the story does not retell Hansel and Gretel well at all. Horrible film -- do not recommend.