Yella *
Christian Petzold, 2008
Germany
@ The Grand Illusion

It might be interesting to watch again just to check for hints that Yella is actually dreaming/dead/watching alternate versions of her life flash before her eyes. There were certainly some obvious clues but probably more subtle ones as well.

Geography is important in the movie and not made particularly clear for non-German viewers. Yella's journey is essentially from the former East to the former West, from a pretty but still depressed region to a city schooled in capitalist economics, with the River Elbe as a kind of border between the two. Thus, pic is also a portrait of an easterner finding her vocation but losing her soul.

Hadn't caught this bit (mentioned in Variety) very well.

See also: IMDb | Variety review