Writer-director Christian Petzold’s fourth collaboration with actor Paula Bier is another rich story of the many ways in which humans co-exist and change each other’s lives. This is a film of small surprises, where the frame remains still and ponders suggestions, without moving on. It is again relying on Beer’s presence that holds the film together.
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Mirror No. 3 begins with Laura (Paula Beer) standing on the street, looking toward the bridge. what is wrong with her? There’s something she doesn’t want to share, and Petzold lets her go without demanding any answers. He is here, but somehow alienated, unable to hide his alienation. But tragedy awaits him.
Linda’s boyfriend dies in a car accident, but she miraculously emerges unharmed. There is an older woman on the roadside who helps Linda up and takes her home. Her name is Betty (Barbara Auer). Soon, we learn that Betty lives alone while her husband (Mathias Brandt) and son (Enno Trebs) work at the local car garage. Linda is a stranger, but Betty doesn’t mind her at home, and not surprisingly, they get along like a team. In Petzold’s world, women are not ignorant of pain and loss; There’s a gentleness in the way their lives intertwine so randomly and yet so profoundly.
Paula Beer’s presence is important
Linda wakes up with her coffee lying near the table, puts on clothes that fit her perfectly, and accepts the silent reassurance of a maternal figure in Betty. This somehow cures her, and Beer’s face – so deeply alive and opaque – is wonderfully used to suggest the many small joys in Linda’s new relationship. There’s a lot of warmth and generosity in the way Petzold uses her frame and steely presence.
As Laura gets very close, the film begins to unravel, as ever, cautiously. The lush and gorgeous German countryside lends a fable-like quality to cinematographer Hans Fromm, as Petzold moves with excellent economy and pace. Even though there’s an unavoidable mystery that guards the tone of this story, Petzold connects the dots of this psychological drama without minimizing the emotional complexities of grief and the way we deal with trauma.
Mirrors No. 3 is a film that grows inside the mind and reveals itself like a magic trick. Like the vitality of Mary Oliver’s poetry, this film suggests that the world can be a cruel and unfair place, but there are ways in which it can also be generously transformative. The smallest interactions in life give it meaning, even slowly replenish it. Here is a filmmaker who merely suggests, whose characters exist as they are, who places an enormous amount of trust in the audience to fill in the blanks. Small in scope yet so expansive in its approach to life’s little mysteries and lessons, Mirrors No. 3 is a film worth enjoying.
Mirrors No. 3 premiered at the International Film Festival of Kerala.