Phoenix

Shortly after World War II ends, Holocaust survivor Nelly Lenz returns to Berlin with a bullet wound and a heavy load of memories. She navigates the ruined city while trying to resume a semblance of normal life. The ambivalence of safety and danger sets the emotional tone for what follows.

Lene takes Nelly to a reconstructive plastic surgeon, hoping to restore her old face. The surgeon cannot recreate her exact look, and Nelly is disappointed by the incomplete restoration. The failed restoration contributes to her ongoing struggle with identity.

Lene arranges a place for Nelly and herself to live together in Berlin. With all her family dead in the war, Nelly inherits a substantial amount of money. This financial cushion becomes an important asset for plans to move elsewhere.

Lene suggests that Nelly collect her inheritance and travel to Palestine, where they could help in the creation of an independent Jewish state. They discuss safety and a future life far from Europe’s recent horrors. The plan ties money, memory, and a political dream together.

Nelly leaves their apartment to find Johnny and discovers him working in a nightclub called Phoenix. He fails to recognize her at first, but later mentions his late wife and suggests that she bears a strong resemblance. The encounter plants the seed for a dangerous web of impersonation.

Johnny asks Nelly to impersonate his late wife in order to claim her inheritance. Nelly agrees to go along, concealing her true identity and adopting the name Esther. The pairing marks the beginning of a long manipulation that blurs love and deceit.

As Esther, Nelly undergoes a painstaking transformation guided by Johnny. He focuses her on mimicking the mannerisms, songs, and persona of his supposed wife. Nelly keeps her real identity hidden while she plays a role that may erase her history entirely.

Lene cautions Nelly that Johnny could have been involved in the arrest that led to Nelly's imprisonment. Nelly dismisses the concern for now, prioritizing the plan and the need to secure her future. The warning plants seeds of doubt that will later surface.

Johnny lays out a plan to stage Nelly’s dramatic return from the camps within the week and invites several old friends to meet her at the train station. The event is meant to reintroduce her as the wife she never will be again. Tension builds around whether the performance can be controlled.

Nelly returns to the apartment she shares with Lene and learns that Lene has killed herself. The landlady leaves behind a note for Nelly along with a divorce decree showing that Johnny had divorced Nelly the day before her arrest. The discovery brutalizes Nelly and confirms the betrayal woven into their plan.

Nelly keeps the truth about Johnny's betrayal to herself, deciding how to handle the upcoming train-station reunion with Johnny and their old friends. She maintains the Esther persona while grappling with the knowledge of a shattered marriage and the stolen inheritance. The tension mounts as they move toward the staged encounter.

At a friend's home, Nelly is invited to sing, with Johnny accompanying on the piano. Throughout the performance, Johnny starts to recognize the familiar voice and even notices the identification tattoo from the camps. The moment signals a turning point in their dangerous 'game'.

Johnny interrupts the music with overwhelming guilt as he recognizes Nelly's voice and the tattoo. The room falls silent, and Nelly finishes the song before quietly walking away. The film closes on the tension between memory, identity, and the cost of deceit.