Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: HOME STORIES [Berlinale - Berlin, Germany]

The idea of displacement is another thematic that has been specifically integrated into many films this year at Berlinale...the want to stay and the aspect of wanting nothing to change. "Home Stories" [Competition] is another interesting diatribe on the aspect of East and West but in this way, specifically in Germany. The way that people in the East of Germany see life might still differ greatly from those who were on the other side of the Berlin Wall, even almost 40 years later (because of the boomer generation per se -- not sure the correlating term in Germany). It is very specific idea because the history and how situations played out were very different on the East Side from the West. The aspect though here follows a teenager named Lea who is from a rural area and gets selected by a talent competition (think American Idol) to compete on their show. Her family is not perfect (but no one's is). She is put under the spotlight but it creates an initially unspoken thread of what the family is and is not. That said her dad's relationship with her mom is unconventional and how her mother sees life also complicates elements. Lea has an artistic and academic minded aunt but her aunt's son still keys in ideals of the old world and how it should be run. It makes total sense because for some people the world is too chaotic and some miss order, even if it is something they saw in their grandparents.

The matriarch of the family owns a farm/conference center and is used to being the center of attention. Even though she is happy for her granddaughter there is a shift away from "me". Lea meanwhile has her own secrets and yet these reality shows expect their participants to be transparent but also play to the camera. Lea doesn't know how to be false in that but also is keeping certain things from her parents because she doesn't necessarily trust their judgment. She trusts her aunt's intuition more (even though she has problems as well). Also the family does see this show as an opportunity without considering each others feelings for a good part of the film. There is also a metaphorical structure that begins with an injured horse and the family trying to help it at the inset. The irony is that they put the horse back out into work without knowing if he is up to it. The same correlation goes for the family. Their resort is old compared to others. It is run down and yet it has its charm. Lea's decisions aren't arbitrary but when she decides to highlight her aunt's museum on the workers during the Soviet reign versus her grandmother's legacy, things get a little dicey. Also her father is caught between two worlds of loyalty (in love and in life) but the issue is: Does he care about either? Mostly the film comes back to the essence of control while the main character wants to release herself from that burden despite the fact that everyone wants her to be something (although they mostly won't say it). "Home Stories" tells a very specific regional narrative that is universal but keys into the fact that change is difficult but the rub is when everybody tries to ignore it as it happens. B

By Tim Wassberg