Dornröschen erwacht

Three years after a near-fatal car crash, Juliane wakes from a coma with part of her memory missing. But instead of filling in her gaps, her friends and relations feed her nothing but secrets and lies. Everybody holds a piece of the puzzle, but they are keeping it from her as if their life depended on it. Just when she thinks the nightmare is finally over and starts to move on with her life, there's another surprise around the corner. Nobody knows what's really going on until the black parade of a funeral procession brings back a critical moment in Juliane's past. Martin Douven's script borrows from Martin Suters novel "A Perfect Friend" as well as from "Three Colors: Blue". Nadja Uhl isn't Juliette Binoche, but her acting is superb as her character goes from joy to sadness to paranoia and back again. Fine performances by Ulrich Tukur as Juliane's shrink and Marie-Lou Sellem as her friend Inga. Beautiful shots of the rain as a symbol of the amnesia that shrouds Juliane's past. Surprisingly subtle and well-made for a TV production, "Dornröschen Erwacht" ("Sleeping Beauty Awakes") would have deserved theatrical release.