Two to One review — Sandra Hüller can't fix the flat reunification plot
Last year's awards season staple and powerhouse performer Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest) takes a qualitative tumble with this new 'feelgood' comedy about financial scams and money laundering in the week before German reunification in 1990. Hüller plays Maren, an unemployed yet fiercely proud East German who, together with her partner Robert (Max Riemelt) and ex-boyfriend Volker (Ronald Zehrfeld), discovers an enormous underground bunker in Halberstadt, near the border with West Germany.
The bunker has been hastily commandeered to house several thousand tonnes of the country's soon to be defunct banknotes. And so, in the three days left before the deutschmark takeover of October 3, 1990, Maren and Co hatch a mildly convoluted plan to
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The Independent
16 hours ago
- The Independent
Neon dreams and nature scenes make for two very different home decor trends in 2025
Home decor's got a split personality this year: Call it 'city glow' and 'cottage flow.' At the two international design fairs that I attended — Maison et Objet in France, Ambiente in Germany — acres of exhibition booths were full of Art Deco furnishings, island-vibe rattan seating and lighting, and lots of emphasis on sustainably produced materials. But a couple of aesthetics drawing crowds were especially interesting. Capturing the 'city glow' One was an exuberant urban vibe I'm nicknaming 'city glow.' It's full of highlighter-hued throw pillows, edgy surrealism, street art and hefty, Brutalist-style furniture — lots of sharp-cornered steel or concrete consoles and lamps that loomed over rooms — as well as rugs and wallcoverings covered in graffiti-style motifs or swaths of vibrant color. Gretchen Rivera, an interior designer in Washington, D.C., sees it as a look that resonates especially with 'younger generations who grew up with digital influences. There's surrealist art, energetic colors and playful, almost toy-like design.' Interior designer Anton Liakhov in Nice, France, agrees: 'For a generation clamoring for creativity and self-expression, it's loud and in-your-face.' For surface colors, look at Benjamin Moore's spicy orange Bryce Canyon or the bubblegum-pink Springtime Bloom. Daydream Apothecary has a whole collection of neon wall paints for intrepid decorators. Sisters Ana and Lola Sánchez use art as a bold form of self-expression at their luxe brand Oliver Gal, in South Florida. It's known for its handcrafted, statement-making pieces — including large acrylic gummy bears, graphic surfboards and wall art inspired by fashion, pop culture and modern surrealism. The result is a vibrant, edgy aesthetic. A new collection, Rococo Pop, introduces rococo-inspired frames in high-gloss acrylics paired with playful graphic imagery. 'We wanted to take the opulence of 18th century rococo,' notes Ana Sánchez, 'and give it a cheeky, pop-art punch.' 'These frames are like little rebels in ballgowns — elegant, over-the-top and totally unexpected,' adds Lola Sánchez. The style, her sister says, 'celebrates contrast. Old World charm meets modern mischief.' Following the 'cottage flow' The other impressive decor style at the design fairs was very different from the urban look. I'm calling this one 'cottage flow,' and Liakhov describes it as evoking a 'peaceful sanctuary, where you can play around with textures that are anchored in, and in tune with, nature.' Think nubby woolen throws in mossy hues. Softly burnished wooden tables. Vintage quilts, and dishware. Gingham and garden florals. Landscape prints. Imagery of birds and woodland animals on textiles and wallcoverings. Etsy's 2025 spring/summer trend report showed that searches for 'French cottage decor' were up over 26,000% compared to 2024. 'I see people embracing a slower pace to life where they can,' says New York-based interior and decor designer Kathy Kuo about the country cottage style. 'The past two decades or so were dominated by a glorification of fast-paced 'hustle culture' — trends like cottagecore and coastal grandmother are evidence that the pendulum's swinging toward taking pleasure in simpler, more nature-adjacent things in life, whether or not you actually live in a country cottage,' she says. Paint colors are also reflecting the trend. A calming sage green called Quietude is HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams' color of the year. Little-Greene's collection has names like Rolling Fog, Tea with Florence and Hammock. Mixing the styles Watching design show visitors excitedly discovering new finds among the aisles, I thought THIS is what's fun about home decorating: You can think as creatively as you like when it comes to your own home. You're all about high-octane city nightlife? Come this way. Scottish crofts, Scandi cabins and cozy porches more your thing? Right over here. And if you want to mix these two aesthetics? Go for it. There's space to blend elements of both, says Kuo. ' Design trends are so fluid. I absolutely see the potential to merge these into each other,' she says. 'Many city dwellers love time in nature and have an affinity for a more rustic look, while still feeling called to honor their urban environment in their home. I see plenty of modern interior design motifs that are sleek and urban on the surface, but in the details, they're infused with organic textures and biophilic elements.' 'Really, the best designs are the ones that are personal, rather than perfect,' she adds. You could display an array of contemporary glass bowls on a curvy walnut credenza. Mix botanical patterns in vibrant, unexpected colors. Soften room elements like a sleek table and industrial-style lamp with boucle or velvet cushions and a fluffy rug. Pair polished concrete floors with vintage-inspired wallcovering. If you don't want to mix elements in one space, consider using sliding partitions from one room to another. You'll create a little style 'journey.' If the recent international design fairs are any indication, you're going to find loads of fun home decor in stores over the coming months. Get ready to flow. ___ ___ For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
‘Crazy!' – Kai Havertz shows off incredible body transformation as Arsenal fans are left stunned by new pic
ARSENAL fans have been left stunned by Kai Havertz's incredible body transformation. The German star returned for the final two games of the season after spending three months out with a hamstring injury. 5 5 And Havertz appears to have kept busy while sidelined by hitting the gym. He shared three snaps of himself hard at work on Instagram alongside the caption: "Loading." The photos show Havertz lifting weights and doing pull-ups. Fans have compared his new bulging muscles physique with his old look and are convinced he is looking stronger than he ever ahead of next season. One wrote: "The way Havertz has bulked up is crazy." Yet others are worried Havertz is bulking up to become Arsenal 's target man No9 when a new striker is high on the club's summer shopping list. 5 They have been linked with RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres. Reports suggest that Sesko, 21, reportedly has a £62million release clause but Arsenal have reservations over a deal. New chief Andrea Berta is a fan of Gyokeres, 26, and he could be available for around £60m. But competition for the Swede is fierce in the form of Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann review – the author's best work yet
Georg Wilhelm Pabst was one of the most influential film directors in Weimar Germany, probably best known on the international stage for discovering Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks. His radical approach earned him the nickname of 'Red Pabst', and when Hitler was elected to power in 1933, Pabst reacted by taking his family to the United States. He intended to emigrate permanently, but what was supposed to have been a brief trip back to Austria to visit his sick mother saw Pabst detained inside the Third Reich for the duration of the second world war. This unfortunate turn of events had a dramatically detrimental effect, not only on Pabst's immediate situation but on his entire postwar career. Daniel Kehlmann has frequently used historical events as the basis for his fiction, most famously in his breakout 2005 novel Measuring the World, which draws on the work of the German explorer and geographer Alexander von Humboldt, and more recently in 2017's Tyll, which brings to life the capricious exploits of the legendary jester Till Eulenspiegel during the thirty years' war. But Kehlmann's works are so much more than fictionalised biographies, and his new novel The Director is as imaginative and bold in its use of editing as Pabst's own movies. In the opening chapter Franz Wilzek, the assistant director on Pabst's lost 1945 film The Molander Case, is being interviewed on TV about his life and career. Wilzek, who is in the early stages of dementia, insists that this elusive film was never shot. The underhum of hostility around the subject from both the interviewer and his producer hints at something unspoken, the memory of an event that Wilzek either cannot or will not revisit. But Franz Wilzek did not really exist, and the film he is said to have worked on was left unfinished. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion This is just one of the novel's divergences from recorded history, and anyone looking to uncover the details of Pabst's life will find Kehlmann an unreliable narrator. But nothing in Kehlmann's world is accidental, and The Director is more interested in the unstable no man's land between facts and the truth than in any point-by-point rehash of 'what really happened'. Following a meeting with Joseph Goebbels that ricochets queasily between horror and comedy, Pabst tries to convince himself that 'all he'd had to do was make a hand gesture and say a few words'. Meanwhile, in the decaying rural mansion that has become his prison, his son Jakob – a fictional amalgamation of Pabst's two real sons, Michael and Peter – is forced by schoolfriends to enter a bottomless cellar where the Pabsts' black-shirted caretaker Jerzabek scuttles in the cobwebby darkness like a giant spider. Trude Pabst – an actor and aspiring screenwriter before taking on the sacrificial duties of Great Man's Wife – is caught in a web of her own, increasingly finding solace in alcohol, if only to avoid the society of her Nazi neighbours. Pabst himself seeks refuge in work, taking on subjects that are 'German enough' not to offend the censor. The films he creates offer their own coded criticisms of the regime, though in the eyes of the postwar commentariat, his resistance is too covert, too artistic. The novel's denouement takes us finally to the film set of The Molander Case, relocated to Prague in order to escape the allied bombing. Pabst is determined to finish the film by whatever means necessary, even as more and more of his support staff are forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht. He insists to Wilzek that 'without us, everything would be the same, no one would be saved, no one would be better off. And the film would not exist.' This argument about the ultimate supremacy of art has been the position Pabst has occupied all along; in the midst of the falling bombs and the fleeing civilians, the teenage soldiers and the advancing Russians, it is an argument that is forced to its utmost and must surely break. Even at this distance of 80 years, the sense of claustrophobia and ultimate folly is all encompassing. One feels an aching sympathy for Pabst, caught in a situation so far beyond his control that 'when he tried to breathe in, there was only icy water, and in the distance, he knew, monsters were moving … black and many-armed, at home in the darkness'. It would seem that Kehlmann also is prepared to cut him some slack, saving his bitterest condemnation for Leni Riefenstahl, who really did use concentration camp inmates as extras, and for Alfred Karrasch, the author of the novel on which The Molander Case is based and who, unlike Pabst, really did espouse Nazi ideology in his work. Kehlmann's characterisation of both is hilarious, merciless and brilliant. The Director has all the darkness, shapeshifting ambiguity and glittering unease of a modern Grimms' fairytale: it is Kehlmann's best work yet. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin, is published by Quercus (£22). To support the Guardian buy a copy at Delivery charges may apply.
