Tom Tykwer is considered one of the most versatile and successful German directors of the present. Since his breakthrough with Lola run, he has not only been a big name in the local film world, but also internationally. No project is too ambitious to him, be it a sci-fi epic à la Cloud Atlas or a history series from the Babylon Berlin hit: When Tykwer is behind the camera, something exciting happens.
This also applies to his recent directorial work: with the light, Tykwer celebrates his long -awaited canvas return after working the past decade mostly on television and streaming. After the film celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale in February, it now starts regularly in German cinemas. Make yourself on a 160-minute opus caught as you have never seen before.
Tom Tykwer returns to the cinema with the light and brings the life of a Berlin family to falter
The light introduces us to a Berlin family that looks progressive at first glance. If we take a closer look at the individual members, however, it turns out that they are particularly interested in themselves and alienated from each other. This applies to mother Milena (Nicolette Krebitz) and father Tim (Lars Eidinger) as well as the two twins Frieda (Elke Biesendorfer) and Jon (Julius Gause).
Here you can look at the trailer for the light:
The light – trailer (German) HD
Only the young dio (Elyas Eldridge), Milena’s son from a different relationship, is not yet taken as the rest. This rest will soon be kept a mirror – in the form of the new housekeeper Farrah (Tala al deen) that more and more fits into the family. Are we looking at the new parasite or the German answer to Mary Poppins? You don’t know.
Does not always guarantee the same thing: the light shows how exciting German cinema can be
Tom Tykwer plays on his cinema comeback with a wide variety of moods and genres. Sometimes the light looks as if we are in a mainstream comedy. Sometimes the apocalyptic shots of a Berlin that sinks into the rain take over. And then there are daring outbreaks from conventional telling. From musical performances to fantasy dances in the air above the water, everything is included.
With every fiber, the light stands against the accusation that the German cinema is boring, unimaginative and transparent. Always only the same? Not with this film. Even if Tykwer uses familiar elements, the way in which he brings them together is always amazing. From a certain point, you can no longer predict the direction in which the light turns next.
The snappy satire that our current society dissolves changes with the sensitive drama of a broken family. The double standards of the figures collide with the curiosity and playfulness of Tykwers filmmaking. The light feels like a film that has accumulated for far too long in a director and is now getting out of it with the almost unlimited possibilities of the cinema.
The light starts on March 20, 2025 in German cinemas.