Sound of Falling: four different households, in different moments of the 20th Century, but all living in the same German farm, are at the center of Mascha Schilinski’s ambitious drama. If and how they are connected is slowly revealed in a narrative that jumps from one thread to the other; the pace is ponderous, but the poetic and melancholic tone makes this a rich, painful experience. The large cast is uniformly good: Hanna Heckt, Lena Urzendowsky, and Luzia Oppermann, as two of the girls and one of the maids, are particularly good, and there are too many others worth mentioning. Cinematographer Fabian Gamper gives the film a very distinct look: the aspect ratio gives the film a claustrophobic sense, and the intense graininess and eventual distortion help to give this a sense that the film is a collection of better-forgotten memories and stories. The sound design is likewise very evocative and expressive.