Measured look at a splintered life
“The Ground Beneath My Feet,” a clinical yet effective character study, takes a sobering look at an ambitious businesswoman whose life is slowly but surely falling apart on three fronts: family, love life and career. It’s a quietly devastating indictment of our increasingly impersonal times, not to mention a stark reminder of what women face in the workplace.
At the center of this psychological drama is Lola (Valerie Pachner, excellent), who toils at a ruthless consulting firm where no one is allowed to show any signs of weakness. The beautiful Lola, dressed and coiffed perfectly, looks the part of a brilliant consultant, but underneath her calm exterior is a panic attack waiting to happen. The main driver of her anxiety is her schizophrenic sister Conny (Pia Hierzegger, eerily convincing), whose existence Lola tries to hide, even from her boss/ lover Elise (Mavie Hörbiger).
Lola’s life has become a joyless exercise in selfcontrol, whether she’s working out, climbing the corporate ladder or even making love. Making matters worse are the alpha males who surround her at the office. The career indignities that she suffers are brutally cold — and real. Much of the film is ultra austere wherever Lola happens to be: in the hospital psych ward, the boardroom or between the sheets. The icy sexiness of the love scenes illustrate that “Beneath My Feet” is one chilly film.
Writerdirector Marie Kreutzer keeps a firm, measured grasp on these proceedings, even if she sometimes places too much emphasis on Lola’s workplace travails at the expense of her troubled and complicated relationships with Conny and Elise. But “The Ground Beneath My Feet” consistently serves as a powerful showcase for the talented Pachner, who manages a performance that is both distant and achingly vulnerable. In Lola, we see the cracking facade of a woman who appears to have it all — but can’t stop her life from going off the rails.