THE FOREST FOR THE TREES  (Germany / 2003) 

*A 2006 U.S. Release* 



Shot on video, Maren Ade's striking debut feature, The Forest for the Trees ( Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen), is an acute and absorbing study of a human being on the verge of disintegrating both emotionally and psychologically. Eva Löbau plays Melanie Pröschle, a twentysomething school teacher who leaves her rural home and a longtime boyfriend to pursue better opportunities elsewhere. After landing a job in a suburban high-school, Melanie realizes that things aren't what she expected or wanted them to be. She not only has to deal with unwelcome advances from an older colleague, but her enthusiastic new teaching methods aren't honored by teachers and students alike, partly because she came in as a substitute halfway through the school term. Melanie's situation doesn't turn out to be much better on the domestic front: she tries to befriend her neighbor Tina (Daniela Holtz), who works at a boutique, but her intrusive methods and a lack of understanding of urban social codes gradually cause her to become alienated, not only from others but also from herself and reality in general. 

Ade, 27, mostly shot The Forest for the Trees in her hometown of Karlsruhe, with guidance from her parents who are both school teachers. The film, which was her graduation project for Munich's film school, proves that she had developed a keen sense of the highs-and-lows associated with the profession before she went forward. And in accomplishing her task, she's certainly aided quite well by Löbau (winner of the Best Actress prize at the prestigious Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema in 2005), whose small, subtle mannerisms are capable enough to cause a ripple effect, yet they never detach her from exhibiting her inner humanity. Even if Ade isn't breaking any new ground with this film -- the likes of Antonioni and Tsai haven't left much for others to explore when it comes to modern urban alienation and its residual effects -- her vision still impresses, ultimately because she somehow bypasses the genre's pitfalls and finds a way to leave Melanie, and us, on a high. 

Grade: B+ 
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*THE FOREST FOR THE TREES has been to quite a few film festivals, including Hong Kong, Toronto and Sundance (it won the Special Jury prize there). The film didn't get a theatrical release in the U.S. but it was issued on DVD by Film Movement. 

*It was part of my Secondary Best of '06 LIST. 
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