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Christian Petzold’s ‘Miroirs No. 3’ Is Like a Gothic Fairytale Set in the American Mid-West
Christian Petzold’s “Miroirs No. 3,” which screens in Directors’ Fortnight, is set in present-day Germany but it evokes a gothic fairytale.
After a mysterious accident, in which the boyfriend is killed, Laura is taken under the wing of a kind woman, Betty, played by Barbara Auer, who lives near the crash site. Betty is portrayed as a witch-like character, like the old woman in “Hansel and Gretel.” She lives on her own on the edge of town, where she gathers medicinal plants from the garden, and is viewed with suspicion by the villagers. Their repair comes out of a feeling of solidarity that slowly builds between them, which is encapsulated in a scene where Laura cooks a meal for them and, for the first time in years, they sit and eat as a family.
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