Phoenix (2014 film)

Phoenix
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christian Petzold
Screenplay by	Christian Petzold Harun Farocki
Based on	The Return from the Ashes by Hubert Monteilhet
Produced by	Florian Koerner von Gustorf Michael Weber
Starring	Nina Hoss Ronald Zehrfeld Nina Kunzendorf
Cinematography	Hans Fromm
Edited by	Bettina Böhler
Music by	Stefan Will
Release dates	25 September 2014 (2014-09-25) (Germany) 24 July 2015 (2015-07-24) (United States)[1]
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Germany
Languages	German English
Box office	$5.6 million[2]

Phoenix is a 2014 German drama film directed by Christian Petzold. Loosely adapted from the 1961 novel Le Retour des Cendres (English: The Return from the Ashes) by French author Hubert Monteilhet, the film stars Nina Hoss and Ronald Zehrfeld as Nelly and Johnny Lenz, respectively.

Phoenix is set in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, where Nelly, a Jewish woman who managed to survive Auschwitz concentration camp, decides to go back to her husband Johnny in Berlin. She has had to have her face reconstructed owing to a bullet wound, and her husband does not recognize her. The film marks the sixth collaboration between Petzold and Hoss, as well as being the second film in which Hoss and Zehrfeld star opposite each other, after Barbara (2012), also directed by Petzold.

Phoenix was released in Germany on 25 September 2014, and in the United States on 24 July 2015. The film received significant critical acclaim, with praise for the film's suspenseful narrative, for its direction, for Hoss's performance, and for its production design and symbolic elements. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in North America by The Criterion Collection on 26 April 2016.