Around the hour mark in The Forest For The Trees (2003), I finally had to close my eyes, not being able to bear watching another scene of social embarrassment. I usually have a high tolerance for cringe-inducing comedy, but I think I needed one sensory break for the continued awkwardness and loneliness of Melanie (Eva Löbau), the main character of the movie. Shot in high definition video, The Forest For The Trees resembles a Dogme Lars Von Trier movie where we observe a ‘golden hearted’ woman being put through life’s meat-grinder. Here, it’s a bit more low-key, nothing violent happens here for example; it’s all relatable, realistic stuff, though no less painful to observe.
Moving from the country to the city, Melanie embarks on a new job as a high school teacher halfway through the year. Eager to make an impression and introduce new ideas, she quickly finds herself unable to control her classrooms. The continued disrespect and yelling from the students are just one part of Melanie’s slow descent into misery, as the film also gives a lot of focus to her attempts to ingratiate herself as a friend to a neighbour, a fashion shop employee that she bumps while shopping.
Writer and director Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann) threads a delicate line, resisting the cutesy cliches of an American indie (I think of Mike White’s Year Of The Dog) and not being completely cruel and heartless, like Von Trier’s The Idiots. It’s not simply about a nice person trampled upon by the mean and the rude. Melanie can’t get out of her own way, and contributes to her own problems, whether not reading social cues or just not leaving things well enough alone; a repeated scene is her rehearsing a moment to herself, and in the next scene we see her talk to the neighbour or a colleague, taking an unnecessary or unwanted step. Brilliant lead performance by Löbau, and the editing is brisk, always cutting effectively on a moment for deadpan humour, and not coming under 90 minutes in length. Available on Tubi (US). Recommended.
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