FATHERLAND (NYFF 2026) – Review by Diane Carson
Fatherland follows Thomas Mann and daughter Erika in post-WWII Germany
Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland reminds viewers of the attentive commitment of Thomas Mann’s daughter Erika (an always superb Sandra Hüller) to her father (Hanns Zischler). In fact, the formidable Erika enjoyed a full life as an actress, writer, and rally driver. In 1946 she reported on the Nuremberg war crimes trials before traveling to California to care for Thomas who was being treated for lung cancer. In Fatherland’s 1949 Germany Erika and Thomas drive in their black Buick sedan across the ruins of Germany, from Frankfurt to Weimer, from the former city under US control to the latter under Soviet domination where Thomas delivers a passionate, courageous anti-Nazi address advocating freedom from tyranny. But the film begins in its opening minutes quite tragically with Mann’s son Klaus who commits suicide after an emotional, introductory phone call with Erika.
Inspired by real events, co-writer Pawlikowski and Hendrik Handloegten minimally change some factual details, prioritizing the emotional effect of Klaus’ action, its impact felt throughout the film. In fact, Erika was not Thomas’ companion on this trip, though it’s easy to imagine her involvement given her care for him. More important and in this detail accurate, Mann did receive the prestigious Goethe Prize for his literary work in Frankfort with a second Goethe Prize awaiting his acceptance in Weimer. These East and West German locations for the awards give Mann the opportunity to assert that “art does not recognize borders.” Additional political commentary propels subsequent scenes: composer Wagner’s grandsons wanting Mann to rehabilitate Wagner’s reputation, intrusions by the CIA and the Stasi, and Erika’s exchange with her German actor ex-husband, a friend to Joseph Goebbels. In other words, every scene is defined by its multivalent repressive context versus assertions of freedom in the service of music, poetry, and literature. Moreover, Mann speaks eloquently of Goethe’s idea of love and loss in a Germany divided physically and ideologically into two separate entities.
At Fatherland’s Cannes press conference Pawlikowski said he liked the simplicity of the road movie. Several of his additional comments elucidate the narrative’s poignant appeal. Pawlikowski said, “I’m lost today. That’s why I make films set in the past . . . putting you in that place helps to make it universal.” Contributing to that immersive, authentic feel, Pawlikowski remarked that he chose for cinematographer Łukasz Żal to shoot in black and white “because black and white is an honest world.” Probing that emotional register, an overwhelming, persistent feeling of grief permeates this post WWII world, on a personal level and politically for a misguided country. Relating to that, Pawlikowski explained that “I’ve known grief in my life. There’s family grief and grief for a world that has disintegrated plus not having a home,” or, at the very least, the home Klauss and Erika long for and have long ago lost to the Nazis. And in his homage to the fatherland, he dares to use the same language to repudiate tyranny.
In a Telluride Film Festival interview, Pawlikowski praised Sandra Hüller’s masterful performance, her face a landscape of emotions: “irritation, sadness, irony, anger” always presented exquisitely, clearly, controlled but never overstated. She is an actress who invites the viewer into her thoughts and feelings. Hüller, recipient of a Telluride Silver Medallion tribute, spoke optimistically in an on-stage interview, acknowledging Fatherland’s very dark period “with hopes that it will guide us through this time.” Over all, the heroic humanitarian messages offer heartening encouragement for future confidence in bold stands for and courageous assertion of what is right. Fatherland provides a welcome, much needed source of comfort in this fractured world. Screenings at both this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Telluride and New York Film Festivals testify further to its importance. Director Pawlikowski shared this year’s Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award. Poland’s Official Submission for this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Fatherland is in German with English subtitles.
