DVD Review: Transit

We are living in frightening and twisted times, when a significant portion of the world’s population is once again falling for fascism, something that seemed unfathomable only a few years ago. And so stories of World War II have an even stronger appeal than normal. We need these stories to tell us how to avoid mistakes and horrors of the past. Transit is based on the novel by Anna Seghers, and takes place during the German occupation of Paris. One thing that is unusual and remarkable about Transit is that it takes the 1944 novel and places in a time that combines the early 1940s and the present, creating a sort of present where the past has never quite left. And while that might or might not have worked ten years ago, it feels just exactly right at this moment, and immediately pulls us into the world of these characters.

At the beginning of the film, we learn that Paris is being sealed off, and that the time to escape is now. In a café, Georg (Franz Rogowsi) is asked by a friend to take two letters to a writer named Weidel, but when he arrives at the hotel he learns that Weidel is dead, having taken his own life. “He caused me more trouble than the occupation,” the woman running the hotel tells him. Georg takes some of the writer’s things, including a manuscript. When he returns to the café, he finds his friend and the other patrons being lined up by the police, and soon is on the run himself. There are others in the same predicament, but it isn’t long before Georg is separated from them. The film drops us into this world, with no explanation of what has happened. Of course, no explanation is necessary. But with the current situation of the world, I began to wonder if at some point in the near future World War II movies will need to offer some exposition or backstory. While the world promised to never forget, it seems that many people have done just that.

Interestingly, approximately fifteen minutes into the film, we suddenly get a bit of narration, which takes a moment to get used to, this new voice, this other perspective. “Finally he had opened the writer’s bag. He began to read out of pure boredom.” The narrator becomes another character in the story. What is also interesting is how normal the world is. Cars pass by, people continue to live their lives, while a darker force gains control. And that is certainly how it is here in the United States right now, most of us going about our normal lives while immigrant children are dying in cages and ICE conducts massive raids and minorities live in fear. At one point in this film, illegals refuse to seek medical care out of fear of being arrested, something that is happening in our country now.

Georg makes his way to Marseilles, where things have not yet gone completely wrong. But there is the knowledge that whatever calm and normalcy may exist will soon be shattered. And this story takes place in that brief and uncertain time. When Georg goes to the consulate to turn in Weidel’s things in hope of receiving a finder’s fee, he instead finds that he is believed to be Weidel. He then sees a way out. He just has to arrange for transits for the U.S. and Spain because there is no direct passage to Mexico, the country that has expressed a willingness to take Weidel in. Things are complicated when a beautiful woman enters Georg’s life. The film ends up being a surprisingly intimate story, about loss of identity and trying to regain at least part of it through love. And it features some excellent performances.

Special Features

The DVD contains bonus material, including a feature on the making of the film. This feature focuses on an interview with director Christian Petzold, who talks about the process of turning the novel into the film. He talks about taking something that is set in the past, but shooting it in the present. “As if the ghosts of the past are running around in our present,” he describes it. He also talks about the film’s perspective, about the narrator. This feature also includes interviews with cast members Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, as well plenty of behind-the-scenes footage. This is approximately twenty-four minutes. There is another interview with Petzold, in which he talks about his interest in films and about Transit. This one is approximately six minutes.

Also included is a Q&A with Christian Petzold for the Film Society at Lincoln Center. Unlike the previously mentioned features, this one is conducted in English. He talks about adapting the book, about using voice over and explains how the narrator is an unreliable witness. He also explains why he doesn’t like doing period pieces, and talks about why he usually uses female protagonists in his films. This is approximately twenty-six minutes. There is also an interview with Franz Rogowski which is conducted in English. He talks about his character and about the way the director works. He tells an interesting anecdote about being robbed and how that helped him connect to this character. This is approximately nine minutes. There is a shorter piece on Rogowski, featuring an interview and some snippets from his films. The film’s trailer is also included in the special features.

This DVD release also includes a booklet with notes by Christian Petzold, as well as a piece by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and an interview with Petzold.

Transit was directed by Christian Petzold, and is presented in its original German and French, with English subtitles. It was released on DVD on July 9, 2019 through Music Box Films.