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There is a difference in culture between countries all over the world, and that applies to what we see on the big screen too. Sometimes you watch a film that is not in your native language and yet you can still connect with it. Other times, not so much. In Pawel Pawilikowski’s Fatherland, this just so happens to be the case. As a Polish filmmaker creating a film set in Germany post-war, it makes sense that it would be harder for the Western audience to understand what the filmmakers were trying to say.
Fatherland follows German writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) who return to Germany amidst the state of the Cold War. Through a country divided physically and morally, Thomas and Erika travel from US-dominated Frankfurt to the Soviet-controlled Weimer. Amidst their travels they come across the ruins, relics, and even the new hymns depicting the current state of their divided country. Wanting to stay neutral, the Manns have trouble as they face communist and societal citizens, each wanting something different from Thomas as a potential role model for the country. Through such a silent perspective, audiences are taken on a journey through one specific moment in time.
Fatherland Finds Its Soul in the Silence Between a Father and Daughter
Of course there is much to be expressed here, with it being not the time the war took place, but the after. Yet not everything that could have been said was. Perhaps this was done on purpose, but something that might only be noticeable for those who truly dig deep within the film. Having not yet seen another Pawlikowski film, I cannot say whether this is his typical style. But from viewing Fatherland there is something stylistic and evident there that the viewer can become used to.
Pawlikowski certainly has a specific eye for storytelling. Much happens beneath the surface, or amidst the talking. With dialogue that does convey a message, the story is truly found within what he shows us. Having the film in black and white makes you think more about what you are being shown. It becomes less about each element and what they do as a whole. As they drive through ruins, sit at long tables of military men, or walk through a tomb/mosque, everything is there to hint at the misery and tragedy that has also been felt.
From what first meets the eye, we are introduced to a male dominated world. One middle aged daughter is still her father’s right hand man (or woman in this case). Erika might live freely outside of her relationship with her father, defending herself and her choices to those around her, and speaking up for what she believes in (or what she can during the 1940s). Then, when it comes to that relationship with her father, he is more of a dominating figure in her life. Thomas is just as German as a Westerner could expect one to be depicted as from the post-war era. He has his morals and sticks to them. As a writer he believes his words can change the world. And that is just that; what is able to change the world after so much trauma and turmoil has occurred from the path your home country went down?
It is within Thomas and Erika, along with their chemistry as father and daughter that the greatest emotional impact of the film is held. Seeing Erika constantly in her father’s shadow wanting to break through versus his need to please the people and belief in what he is doing will make a change, truly shows the effects the war has on the individual. While yes Pawlikowski and co-writer Hendrik Handloegten crafted good characters, it was in the portrayal that their essence truly comes across. In such a silent time, a time of grieving — from the war and from other events in their lives — people need not say much. With moments of silence, or the need to not speak, the message is left to be conveyed through both Zischler and Hüller’s eyes.
Everyone knows Hüller ever since the global success she received in Justine Triet’s 2024 Anatomy of A Fall. She empowers the screen, taking full control over every moment. Characters come from how they are written in the script yes, but the way in which they come through and impact the audiences is in how the actors portray them. Erika has empowering and touching connections with everyone in her life. She is compassionate and intelligent, even if this might not be completely seen by her father. Of course women were not given much power in the 1940s, and not even until much later, but through the strength in Erika, we can feel that need to want to break free. Hüller is majestic as she graces the screen. From a simple calm phone call to her brother, to striding through a memorial, every moment tells us part of Erika’s story.
From an outsiders perspective, through viewing war and post-war German films there is an essence of the individual there that we definitely do not get from the history books. In his exploration of one family’s lives following World War II, Fatherland is touching, intimate and tender. Without its two leads, of course, there would be less there to unpack. But it is the combination of them with their scenery and subtle hints to the past that provides the most to the viewer.
A strange feeling is felt when Fatherland finishes. Uneasy, confused, and sad. It becomes hard to put together just what you have seen, being that it was all so much while also nothing at all. Fatherland could be a simple day-to-day life of an author and his receptionist daughter, but it is so much more. A slow burn exploring one aspect of the trauma of war. Fatherland premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Not yet set for a wider release, if you are passionate about the different effects of war, or a fan of either the director or actors, Fatherland can certainly be a film to keep on your radar.
Grade: C+
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Fatherland
In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
Release Date: May 14, 2026
Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
Cast: Sandra Hüller , Hanns Zischler , August Diehl
