Magic Lantern full slate signals a return to normality

Above: "Undine," starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, opens Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre. (Photo/IFC Films)

One sign that life is returning to some vestige of normal can be found by looking at the list of films playing at area theaters.

Though requiring certain safety measures, all the area’s theaters are back in business. And most of them are playing a full slate of the most recent blockbuster releases, from “Cruella” to “A Quiet Place: Part II.”

Take the Magic Lantern, for example. Not only is it screening ‘A Quiet Place: Part II,” along with the German-language film “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit,” but on Friday it will open Chase Ogden’s documentary “Super Frenchie,” the feel-good feature “Dream Horse,” and another German-language offering, “Undine.”

That last one is, along with “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit,” perhaps the most representative example of what we expect from Spokane’s sole arthouse theater. And it comes with some pretty good credentials.

“Undine” was directed by Christian Petzold, a multiple Berlin Film Festival award-winner for such works as “Barbara” (2012) and “Transit” (2018). First shown on Feb. 23, 2020, at the Berlin festival, “Undine” took home both the Best Actress prize for Paula Beer and a special critics’ prize (FIPRESCI) for Petzold.

Critic Jack King had this to say about “Undine”: “Petzold’s unsettling film is awash with wonderful ambiguities and strives to challenge both its audience and filmmaking conventions. They’re incomparable and largely succeed through their independent nuances.”

Hoai-Tran Bui wrote this: “Its disquieting moments of magical realism paired with the all-consuming romance shared between Undine and Christoph – which feels as grand and tragic as the best cinematic love stories – add some warmth to (the film’s) chilly, cosmic exterior.”

And Simran Hans added this: “There’s just enough magic and mystery to tease out a supernatural reading of the film, though Petzold encourages viewers to find pleasure in puzzling out his femme fatale for themselves.”

Sounds challenging, which is what any worthwhile Lantern showing should be. And which is a sure sign that life is returning to something close to normal.