ShareThis"Yella," a crisply made thriller, begins as a harrowing tale of a young German woman stalked by her deranged ex-husband, but quickly turns into an investigation of the murkier depths of capitalism. The woman learns that she has a decided liking for business transactions that are beyond cutthroat and well into unethical and larcenous territory.As the film begins, Yella (Nina Hoss), who lives in a town in the former East Germany, is being harassed by Ben (Hinnerk Schonemann), her former husband who was also her partner in a failed business. She unwisely accepts a ride to the train station from him -- she's got an offer for an accounting job in Hanover (in the former West Germany) -- and in a fit of rage he drives them off a high bridge into the river. Yella crawls to shore and continues on her way.Ensconced in a creepily minimalist Hanover hotel, she learns that the man who promised the job is a crook, and there's no work. In the hotel dining room she encounters Philipp (Devid Striesow), a sharpie representative of an investment firm that specializes in the morally compromised business of making high-interest loans to troubled companies.Philipp persuades her to accompany him to a meeting with clients, and instructs her in detail as to whom to look at, and how to sit, to maintain the upper hand. She's bright, exceptionally good with numbers and does well -- and she finds she likes this kind of work. The details of this and subsequent meetings, with the couple's sharp practices, manipulations and lies, are wickedly entertaining and go to the heart of what writer-director Christian Petzold ("Wolfsburg") is up to.Yella finds herself falling for Philipp, and it looks like a dream partnership, except that Ben has traced her to Hanover, and she discovers evidence one night that he's been in her hotel room. She starts hearing mysterious sounds, and the film's atmosphere becomes increasingly eerie.Petzold's style is crisp, and he makes the hotel corridors and spartan conference rooms seem as cold and soulless as most of their inhabitants. He also gets an outstanding performance from Hoss, with whom he's worked before -- her Yella is a cool customer who has surprising emotional depths for someone with the instincts of a buccaneer.As good as the movie is, it's saddled with a tacked-on twist ending that is simply a mistake on Petzold's part. The concluding scene doesn't exactly undo everything that's gone before, but it does end things on a disappointing note.In German with English subtitles.Not rated. Advisory: Some sexual content.89 minutes.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
'Yella' investigates the murkier depths of capitalism
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