Cert 18
Akin again turns his eye to German-Turkish relations in modern Germany. The film begins with the prison wedding of German Katja (Diane Kruger) and Turkish Nuri, who is serving time for drug-dealing. Fast forward to Hamburg where the rehabilitated Nuri runs a business and the couple have a son, Rocco. One day Nuri and Rocco are murdered in a terrorist attack and Katja’s devastation is all-consuming. Katja does not believe the murder has anything to do with their personal history, insisting it was perpetrated by right wing extremists, as is eventually confirmed. A trial ensues.
“Diane Kruger (best actress, Cannes 2017), convincingly conveys Katja’s anguish, fragility and fierce determination as a woman who has lost everything and becomes single-minded in a pursuit of justice that eventually turns to vengeance.” (Vanessa H Larson, washingtonpost.com)
Dir: Fatih Akin 106mins Ger/Fra 2017
Doors open at 7.00pm for this joint event with Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society. It is in the main programme and is covered by your subscription — (food & drink extra).
Film starts at 7.45pm approx.
Programme Notes
Tonight’s film, social event and annual get-together with our friends at ADTTS marks the end of another exciting season
This evening’s crime thriller comes from Fatih Akin (Head-On (2004), Soul Kitchen (2009), The Edge of Heaven (2007)) and stars Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds (2009), Unknown (2011)) as Katja, who is happily married to Nuri, a former drug dealer. However, things start to go wrong for her when a terrorist nail-bomb attack on Nuri’s translation and tax office kills him and their son Rocco. After suffering a period of injustice, racism and prejudice, Katja sets out to take revenge on the perpetrators of the atrocity.
The film marks the second role for Diane Kruger in which she speaks in her native German (the first being in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds as Bridget von Hammersmark), a characteristic that seems to enhance her inspirational performance in this nerve-tingling drama. In the Fade did well at Cannes in 2017, picking up the Best Actress award for Kruger and scooping a nomination for the Palme d’Or. In 2018, the film won the Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Film. Acknowledgements: Anon, IMDb.com; Derek Winnert, derekwinnert.com
“Akin holds nothing back, and Kruger, starring in a German film for the first time in her career, brings grief, anger and pain to life – never overdoing any of it, yet refusing to submerge it” Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice
“Following the fizzle of his coming-of-ager Goodbye Berlin (Tschick) last year, Fatih Akin bounces back and bounces high with an edge-of-the-seat thriller inspired by xenophobic murders in Germany [committed] by a neo-Nazi group” Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
Numan Acar – Nuri Sekerci
Diane Kruger – Katja Sekerci
Denis Moschitto – Danilo Fava
Samia Muriel Chancrin – Birgit
Torsten Lemke – Standesbeamter
Rafael Santana – Rocco Sekerci
Director – Fatih Akin
Producers – Fatih Akin, A-K Homann, Nurhan Sekerci-Porst, Herman Weigel and 12 others
Screenplay – Fatih Akin, Hark Bohm
Cinematography – Rainer Klausmann
Art Direction – Seth Turner
Comments
- Brilliant!
- Excellent
- Factual!
- This quickly became a gripping story, with Katjia progressing most impressively from hurt victim to courageous (avenger). However, the final twist surprised me
- A good, if predictable, thriller/court drama and indictment of tribalism, which seems universal
- Well, that was an explosive end to the season! The film had some great court scenes and a nice music soundtrack but the ending was a bit predictable. Thanks, as always, to Anita for the lovely bread and cheese!
- A bit far-fetched but moved along nicely
- After being so tight up to the end of the court scenes, why turn it into a stupid revenge movie?
- Hate and sadness cause sadness and hate
- An explosive end to the season – more please
- I saw no point in the ending