Top 20 Alternative Picks for TIFF 2013: Philipp Gröning’s The Police Officer’s Wife

Philipp Gröning’s The Police Officer’s Wife

Section: Wavelengths
Dates: Tuesday 10, Thursday 12, Saturday 14

Buzz: Despite early sour reactions from across the pond, Philip Gröning’s latest remains a black hole of intrigue. It’s hard to pass on pedigree, especially one as penetrating as this director’s. His previous fiction efforts, The Terrorists and L’Amour, l’argent, l’amour, both took home Bronze Leopards from Locarno, while his meditative documentary, Into Great Silence, beautifully depicted the life of Carthusian monks in the French Alps and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance back in 2005. Often compared to Bergman and his modern counterpart Haneke, Gröning is worthy of the correlation. His latest moral exploration – that of domestic violence – looks to perpetuate the notion with a pair of brave performances by Alexandra Finder and David Zimmerschied in the leading roles.

The Gist: A simple film. A man, a woman, a child. A small town. the square apartment. Perfect sundays. the story of a young family. the ceaseless labor of love out of which emerges what is later called the soul of a person.