El Futuro Perfecto Nele Wohlatz

Pressespiegel

• “Eine poetische Liebes- und Anverwandlungsgeschichte, in die erkennbar auch Wohlatz’ persönliche Erfahrungen als Fremde in Argentinien einfließen. Von diesem Film wird mehr in Erinnerung bleiben, als von den Gewinnern eines eher durchwachsenen Locarno-Festivaljahres.“ 

• „An introspective art film both intellectually astute and emotionally resonate.“

• „Xiaobin’s story might easily have lent itself to a sloppily feel-good, quasi-realistic treatment; heaven forbid a Hollywood remake in which a pupil in an English class triumphs as she acquires the verb forms and the cultural values that accompany them. But, while it has a satisfying emotional thrust, The Future Perfect is a highly thoughtful, even theoretical film, and is executed accordingly.“

• „When Xiaobin learns the conditional tense in Spanish, the movie takes off, depicting her speculations on what could happen. Here the movie is resourcefully clever without showing off about it; depicting Beatriz’s possible future self dressed a little more stylishly than in reality. There is gentle comedy here, and a real rooting interest deriving from Ms. Zhang’s committed, never-a-false-note performance. The film’s unusual perspective makes it a distinctive and potentially enriching experience.“

• „Might the experience of immigrants adapting to a foreign language be in essence something like that of actors studying texts to perform new identities? That’s the profound and perceptively probed thesis of Nele Wohlatz’s brisk metafictional charmer… Each neorealist story thread doubles as a case study for how our ever-shrinking world redefines culture and communication, but played as a downbeat comedy of misunderstandings in which Xiaobin mimics Buster Keaton’s expressionless disenchantment.“ 

• „Entwined with Xiaobin’s improving Argentinian is Wohlatz’s subtly shifting visual style, which progresses its fluidity and technical proficiency to match its protagonist’s linguistic skill.“