Ìý User Rating 
It's not hard to see why The Forest For The Trees has been such a success on the festival circuit. This tartly comic tale of teachers on the verge of a nervous breakdown is not only Maren Ade's marvellous first feature, it was her film school graduation piece. In following first-time teacher Melanie (Eva Löbau) and her disastrous attempts at forging both a new career and social life, Ade demonstrates more maturity and insight than many other, more experienced directors.
An outstanding Löbau plays Melanie as a social incompetent, her sterile modern apartment symbolic of her vacuous existence. She begins living life vicariously through new best friend Tina (Daniela Holtz) but with one accidental encounter too many, Melanie strays into borderline stalker territory. At the same time, she ignores advances from fellow teacher Thorsten (Jan Neumann), the one person who actually wants to stop her dissolving into a neurotic mess.
"RICH IN PATHOS"
Things at school are no better and Melanie's naïve ideas about being a breath of fresh air are quickly shattered when her unruly kids realise she has all the authority of a wet paper bag and events spiral out of her control. Yet despite being the kind of character you'd cross the street to avoid, Löbau generates enough sympathy to wish for a happy ending.
Ade's own script is sharp enough to ensure that nothing is wasted, oozing with that sick pit-of-the-stomach feeling that comes with being truly out of your depth and builds towards an enigmatic conclusion rich in pathos. For a first film, it's accomplished; for a college project, it's astonishing.
