Ehere are films that seem to have been written or filmed around a face. “Sara’s Confession” is such a film. And the face belongs to Johanna Wokalek, she is Sara.
And what she does with her face, or rather what she doesn’t do with it, would be worth a mountain of prizes, all of which Johanna Wokalek has probably already won. However, this should not deter anyone from further awards.
Before we go nuts with our anthem, let’s cool down this story a bit. The case is as follows: “Hello Stranger” says Marlene after the prison gate has opened and a figure in a large black coat with large dark glasses has been released into the supposed freedom. Marlene is Sara’s best friend.
Sara used to be what the tabloids call a party beast. Budding heiress to millions, free, entertainment-oriented. Then the father was murdered. Sara, highly intoxicated at the time of the crime, was the natural perpetrator. She was hounded by the media, pushed by the police. She confessed, not because she took the blame, but because she wanted to “put an end to the madness.”
Then she sat down. five years In which she became quiet and serious and different. A stranger. All she wants to do is look ahead, she says to her friends and family, who greet her with an uneasy celebration. But you don’t let them.
An ex-cop contacts her. He knows something. Then he’s dead. Sara is the natural offender. A double investigation begins. Sara’s old files meet Sara’s new ones on the desks of the two Freiburg inspectors, Berg and Tobler.
Some things remain mere decoration
It’s about betrayal. And about hustle. About the chances a person actually has of escaping their past. About what happens when you get wrapped up in suspicion and prejudice like a mummy in bandages. Until you almost suffocate. Definitely frozen
Sara could not have had a more caring companion on her way of the cross back into the world than Astrid Ströher’s book and Kai Wessel’s direction. The story frays a bit at the edges, a gaffer appears and posts an alleged police attack on the web, which remains mere decoration.
And the fact that the bad luck that has clung to Sara since her arrest is symbolically reflected in the foul-smelling dog residue that Inspector Berg – a special form of running gag – can’t get rid of from the soles of his new shoes, didn’t necessarily have to be either.
Otherwise, the people of Freiburg once again live up to their reputation as the “crime scene” warming room. Where Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and Tobler (Eva Löbau) are, empathy blossoms. Which in this case is especially necessary. Not because it’s cold again in Freiburg, snow lies and falls and melts. But because they are dealing with Sara.
Sara (Johanna Wokalek) is staying with her best friend Marlene (Sophie Lutz).
What: SWR/Benoit Linder
Their soul, their face is half frozen. Which brings us back to Johanna Wokalek, who was born in Freiburg. She can narrate a character from multiple perspectives, so to speak, with a minimum of facial expressions she can make the fundamental diversity of a character clear, keep him constantly moving with nothing more than a moment, a delicate movement of the lips.
Sara is a deeply hurt woman, she is not a victim. She is serious and cautious, she stands shy in front of the world, which – not only in terms of communication technology – has changed in the last five years. Again and again, however, the old Sara jumps out from under her new mask. You can’t see enough of it.
Then it’s over. And you want to go straight back to the place where we first met her, the stranger friend.