I have been an admirer of Paula Beer since seeing her in "Frantz" and "Undine". I have no doubt that she would be more than capable of portraying the complexities of a woman like Stella Goldschlag, to the point where, while not accepting the decisions she made, one might at least be able to understand the reasons that she made them. That belief remains true, but sadly, Kilian Riedhof's film is not her chance. While technically capable, and with superior attention to period detail, "Stella: A Life" - particularly in its last two thirds - fails in the prime area of narrative cinema: "Storytelling". Indicators of Stella's motivations are lost in what becomes a frustrating series of virtual jump cuts, and the audience is left to fill in the gaps to try and understand what has not been shown. The protagonist's evolution from "victim" to "villain" seems to have been left in the cutting room floor, and all that remains of Beer's performance is a slide show, rather than a fully developed characterisation. It is disappointing to see this wasted opportunity discuss a (still) largely unexamined aspect of such a pivotal epoch of social history.
Review of Stella: A Life
