Review: Transit

There are certain movies which makes you realize that it is going to be an instant classic while watching, even before it reaches halfway through. You'll be able to feel the pulses of each and every character, the surrounding, the situations they are into, so vividly. You'll realize that you will be in need of some time to let the emotions sink in once it finishes.

Transit is that movie! The first parallel which came into my mind was with Pawel Pawlikowski's "Cold War" of last year. A story of emotions, romance and existence. Transit opens with letting us know of the severity of the circumstances where the story and characters will be placed at. Georg, the lead character, who is over a barrel, has to deal with witnessing the deaths of two people within the opening twenty minutes. One, of a poet who is a total stranger to him, and the other, of a dear friend. The rest of the movie deals with how Georg, inadvertently juggles between the personas of the two dead men, over the course of his own journey of survival and fighting his inner turmoils.

Georg, played brilliantly by Franz Rogowski, is a character of many complexities. Rogowski has nailed each and every one of those complexities so naturally that he makes it so easy for us to empathize with Georg, seeing ourselves in him, asking the questions he raises or faces, to ourselves.

What makes "Transit" a real cinematic experience, a true classic, is the fact that we will remember each and every character comes and goes in the movie with such clarity and concern, irrespective of their length of presence. Each character, intertwined so beautifully as well as achingly, tells us a story of their own, their fateful journeys even when they do not or refuse to or speak less about it.

The main theme of the movie lies in a recurring question asked a few times in the movie, almost rhetorically - "Who is the first to forget? Those who leaves or those who are left behind?". No character in the movie is capable of answering that, but they make sure that nobody who experiences this cinematic brilliance will never forget this question or the movie.

I feel sorry for myself for not exploring much of Christian Petzold's works before and that will be the first thing I will be making sure of doing as soon as I finish contemplating the emotions and questions this masterpiece has brought upon me.

Miss this film and you'll feel sorry for yourself too!