Vacation

Ana, Robert and their teenage son Max plan on spending an idyllic sojourn at their remote German country house. Their fragile unity is disrupted, however, when more and more members of their extended family show up to vent past resentments and reveal long-kept secrets. The mother is tired of lonely rural life. The daughter’s marriage is at an end. The teenage son has his fi rst quarrel with his girlfriend. The grandmother falls seriously ill and dies. Dramatic events are nonetheless creeping up on the unaware protagonists. Arslans’ ascetic style is inspired by the great exponents of “auteur cinema” (Bresson, Rohmer, Kiarostami) and the intensity of its gaze imbues it with a tremendous emotional potency.