Burning Fire

In praise of a day going by. Teenagers arrive on bikes to walk down to a river embankment and while away the hours, swimming and feeling like the emperors of the universe. Folks a little older arrive at a house for lunch and conversations. The children are having fun in the concrete jungle between houses – a realm only they know. When darkness falls, soon only the teenagers remain, singing now and in a mood to make merry. Dawn will see their hangovers and their happy tears. Airy yet graced with true gravitas, Füür brännt is a hymn to groups and their dynamics. No story as such is told, there are also few micro-dramas in the different sets of groups and there’s not a single character who moves with the viewer from space to space. It’s more the surroundings, the sense that these different spheres could very well be close to each other, the sense of light moving through the hours and how it changes that keeps these series of impressions flowing. At the end of Füür brännt, we feel grateful for having been invited to experience life like this. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)