22/44
Twelve years after a career on the run, criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. A valuable painting is to be stolen in the city. But the carefully planned robbery soon gets out of control.. Follows Im Schatten (2010). At the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, viewers could see how professional criminal Trojan (Misel MATICEVIC) from IM SCHATTEN (2010) had to leave the capital indefinitely. Trojan still operates in a rather similar way: old-fashioned crimes, such as stealing tangible objects such as watches, cash and paintings. No connection to the mafia or clan structure, a lone fighter, only occasionally and in need of a team! When the coup in the Ruhr area does not go as planned, Trojan has to return to Berlin to use his old contacts (Marie-Lou SELLEM). And indeed: Together with three companions (Tim SEYFI, Marie LEUENBERGER, Bilge BINGÜL) Trojan manages to steal a valuable painting by Caspar David FRIEDRICH. But then the trouble really begins with the mysterious client Viktor (Alexander Föhling)… The 2010 BERLINALE IM SCHATTEN by Braunschweig-born director Thomas ARSLAN hit like a long-awaited genre bomb. The exciting genre film shot in Germany was told using the cinematic means of the Berlin School. Extremely exciting, with rare dialogues and explosive violent moments! Seemingly imperceptibly, ARSLAN continues with VERBRANNTE ERDE. Gangster films are still a rarity in German cinema. With chilling precision, the images of cinematographer Reinhold VORSHNEIDER (also IM SCHATTEN) tell the story of people living in a shadow version of Germany. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby sights and yet far from the perception of the police and ordinary citizens. Berlin appears as a co-player and adversary of the film’s characters. The restrained music of the Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM (THE WORST MAN, 2021) contributes greatly to this tense atmosphere. It shows the capital that you know but don’t. Many viewers will be able to recognize this urban sprawl with all its roads from their surroundings. Spooky places very close to us: a scorched earth in the shadow!Michel MATZEVICH (IN THE CRIME PLACE / BABYLON BERLIN) again very convincingly feels like Troy, whom we will probably see again (Thomas ARSLAN is planning a kind of Troy trilogy). GERMAN FILM Award nominee Marie Lou SELLEM (nominated for KNOCHEN UND NAMEN / BONES AND NAMES in 2024) is like an ice-cold mediator. But GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Alexander Föhling (2019 winner for DAS ENDE DER WAHRHEIT / THE END OF TRUTH) is frighteningly good and really doesn’t have to hide from classic villains like Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER. Thomas ARSLAN does. I don’t want to spend as much time with the third film in his Troy trilogy as he did in 2010 and 2024. It’s still exciting!