Period pieces are meant to be snapshots of a past time, moments that may have previously been captured by photographs or words that have survived the ages. However, since cinema is a relatively new medium, we must rely on historians and our own understanding of yesteryear to bring these stories to life. Like anything else, some of these stories are more compelling than others, but when done well, they will leave you riveted and wondering. Set in 1828 and based on a true story, filmmaker Udo Flohr's Effigy, Poison, and the City is a gripping film about two very different women caught in the entrapments of a society that has tried to place them both in a box.
An aspiring lawyer, Cato Bohmer (Elisa Thiemann), settles in the German port city of Bremen as a law assistant to Senator Droste (Christoph Gottschalch). Reluctant to open his criminal court office to a woman, the Senator entrusts Cato with menial work that she is more than overqualified for. Just as she finds her footing in the town and at her new position, whispers about widow Gesche Gottfried (Suzan Anbeh) begin to swirl about.
Well-loved by the less fortunate and the men of the city, Gesche is called The Angel of Berman for her demure demeanor and because of her constant charity work. However, when she comes swooping through Senator Droste's office with accusations that she's been poisoned, Cato is quickly flagged that everything isn't exactly as it seems.
As Cato begins to examine Gesche's accusations while retracing her steps, she quickly finds a slew of dead bodies in her wake, including Gesche's late husband, three children, and a handful of would-be suitors, among others. However, with the Senator's mind on the railroad he desperately wants to build in the town and the sexism that clouds his judgment, he and the men in town cannot even begin to wrap their minds around the atrocities that have so obviously occurred at the hands of Gesche.
A masterclass in manipulation, Effigy is tightly paced with the tension between Cato and Gesche — who seems to recognize that the law assistant is on to her -- is masterful. There have been numerous accounts of women from the 19th century and before who have shocked the world by being at the helm of horrific crimes. However, because women were shoved in tight boxes and forced to live lives they may have had little interest in, they weren't often suspected, at least not right away. It's obvious from the beginning that Gesche's is drawn to Cato, a university-educated woman who has never had to deal with the unwanted burden of marriage or motherhood. Gesche had no choice in the matter, but she also found a way out, however heinous it might be. What she does not expect is her inability to manipulate Cato.
Cato is equally fascinated by the criminally minded woman. Though she's disgusted by her behavior, she quickly discerns that The Angel of Berman is actually the Angel of Death. She even seems to understand Gesche's motives. It's the woman in the 42,000 citizen town that first sees Gesche for precisely who she is under the layers of beauty and flirtation.
Beautifully designed and wonderfully acted, Effigy is a gorgeously crafted film about two women who refused to be victims of their time. Instead, however, boldly or heinously, they used the tools at their disposal, books and moose butter alike, to carve out lives that allow them to be set free.
Effigy, Poison, and the City will debut on VOD in 2021.