The best film of this Berlinale did not play in the Competition, but in the sidebar ‘Berlinale Special’. I am talking about the new work by Swiss director Petra Volpe, who has become internationally recognised with films such as ‘Traumland’ (2013) and ‘Die göttliche Ordnung’ (2017). Her new film, ‘Late Shift’, is outstanding in every respect. Leonie Benesch, an international star since ‘ Teachers’ Lounge' (2023), plays the nurse Floria, whom we accompany on her late shift in the oncology ward of a Swiss hospital. A colleague is on sick leave and the stress level is high. She has to look after whining and impertinent patients, everyone wants something from her, and they want it now.
But ‘Late Shift’ is not a social reportage about the state of emergency in a cantonal hospital, but a cinematically impressive character study of a woman on the brink of mental breakdown. The film manages with a minimum of dialogue, it is about routine procedures, blood is taken, blood pressure is measured, painkillers are administered, patients are pushed to CT or into the operating theatre.
Even under extreme time pressure, Floria remains friendly and sympathetic. Leonie Benesch needs few words; she expresses a wide range of emotional states just with her facial expressions. As her shift progresses, she becomes increasingly stressed, administering the wrong painkiller and confronting a doctor who is leaving for the day instead of informing a patient about their cancer diagnosis. ‘No, that's not normal,’ she shouts back. An overbearing private patient also gets his fair share after an impertinent complaint. You can tell Floria's nerves are on edge.
What makes the film so outstanding, apart from Petra Volpe's precise direction, is Judith Kaufmann's camera. She never loses sight of the ‘heroine’ and manages to turn the seemingly banal hospital routine into a thriller. Hans-Jörg Weissbrich's editing gives the film the perfect rhythm and precise timing. Added to this is the music by London-based French composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, which is never intrusive and subtly underscores the action. Not forgetting Leonie Benesch, who once again proves her acting prowess after ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’. She gets every move and every movement right. It is a pleasure to watch her.
‘Late Shift’ is a masterpiece in the best sense of the word, an outstanding German-language film that really should have been in the competition, where it might have won all kinds of prizes.