After fourteen years on the mainland, Hein returns to the fishing village where he grew up, on a remote island. The isolated community greets him coldly, and even his closest relatives suspect him of being an impostor. When a trial is convened to establish his identity, it emerges that Hein’s memories differ even from those of his childhood friend. The villagers’ suspicion hardens into open hostility, and Hein resorts to drastic measures to prove his version of the truth. Drawing on the premise of the classic The Return of Martin Guerre, the film makes inventive use of Brechtian theatrical devices. The village homes are represented by little more than a few façade walls, sharpening the film’s allegory of community as performance and of the power relations enacted within it. Trial of Hein won the Teddy Jury Award in the Perspectives section at Berlinale.
