Review of Transit (2018) by Greg P — 11 Oct 2018

Director Christian Petzold's meandering, pretentious, inarticulate screen adaptation of Anna Seghers' novel is a mess almost from the outset. This tale of refugees trapped in Marseilles trying to flee the Nazi occupation of France retells this historic saga in a contemporary time frame, a half-baked attempt at commenting on Germany having to come to terms with its past while simultaneously speaking to the current European refugee crisis.

One could say that it's attempting to be "Casablanca" for the 21st Century. Unfortunately, the film's convoluted mishmash of plot lines and undeveloped characters is presented with virtually no back story, jumping into its narrative without any context, meaningful character identification or hints about the confusingly anachronistic elements intertwined here.

All in all, a poorly conceived offering feebly attempting to pass itself off as lofty arthouse cinema. Skip it.