Fatih Akin's latest film takes up right extremist terror
Jochen Kürten ct
November 21, 2017
With "In the Fade," the acclaimed director Fatih Akin explores the case of murders in Germany committed by the NSU terror cell.
Image: Warner Bros.
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'In the Fade' and other films by Fatih Akin
Director Fatih Akin takes up the true stories of the neo-Nazi series of murders across Germany in his latest film, "In the Fade." Here's a look back at some of his previous works.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros.
A brutal awakening in 'In the Fade'
In Fatih Akin's Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated film, "In the Fade," Katja and Nuri Sekerci (Diane Kruger and Numan Acar) are a happy couple. Nuri's Kurdish background, however, proves reason enough for right-wing radicals to murder him. Akin's movie deals with the series of murders undertaken by the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Underground (NSU) across Germany from 2000 to 2007.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros.
Award-winning Diane Kruger
German-born actress Diane Kruger has made a name for herself through international productions; this movie is her German film debut. She took home the best actress prize from the 70th Cannes Film Festival this summer for her starring role in Akin's movie, as a woman who struggles to cope with the loss of her husband and child in a bombing.
Image: Reuters/R. Duvignau
Akin's previous film: 'Tschick'
In 2016, Fatih Akin received positive criticism for his film adaptation of the novel of two young men on a road trip across Germany's countryside, "Tschick" (titled "Goodbye Berlin" in English, picture). That positive feedback was repeated at Cannes in May for "In the Fade."
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Over-ambitious: 'The Cut'
His previous film, the historical drama "The Cut," premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2014. It was an artistic and commercial flop. The film took up the subject of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of Turkey. Despite the film's ambitious intentions, it was for the most part an anemic historical epic.
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International breakthrough with 'Head-On'
Akin achieved his international breakthrough 13 years ago with the drama "Head-On," which captivated audiences at the Berlinale in 2004. The moving film took home the Golden Bear and established Akin's name as a director who could bring untamed emotion to the silver screen.
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His remarkable debut: 'Short Sharp Shock'
Then 25, the director made his debut in 1998 with the story of three young men in Hamburg's Altona neighborhood. The emotional power of the movie was unseen in German productions at the time. As the main characters had their roots in Turkey, Greece and Serbia, the film embodied an energetic multi-cultural shift developing in the country's cinema.
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Another win: 'The Edge of Heaven'
After winning prizes in Locarno for "Short Sharp Shock" and in Berlin for "Head-On," Akin's following work, "The Edge of Heaven," was also showered with acclaim. That film won an award for best screenplay at Cannes in 2007.
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A 'Soul Kitchen' full of humor
The director continued to receive awards and acclaim for his movies. In 2009, the Hamburg-based comedy "Soul Kitchen" took home the top award at the Venice film festival. The film, which follows a hapless restaurant owner, his girlfriend and his brother, showcases Akin's strengths: his feeling for dialogue, for unusual settings and a load of humor.
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A drama about justice: 'In the Fade'
With "In the Fade," Fatih Akin is releasing his ninth film in German theaters. The drama takes on the racism within German society, successfully connecting a political story with a private narrative, without feeling moralistic or didactic. It is a "true" Fatih Akin film, filled with strong emotions.
Emotional and impactful, quickly filmed and produced, it's a return to Fatih Akin at his finest.
To best understand "In the Fade," you have to turn a blind eye to the Hamburg-based filmmaker's last production. "The Cut" was the most elaborate movie the director had made until then but flopped miserably after being presented at the Venice Film Festival in September 2014.
Overcoming 'The Cut'
"The Cut" took up the subject of the Armenian genocide, a subject at the heart of difficult diplomacy and political accusations between Turkey and Germany. Far-reaching in its narrative, it was a detailed, historical epic and took years to produce. And one with a message.
That wasn't what Akin was known for, however. The director famous for his humorous, highly-dramatic neighborhood stories had tried to one-up himself with the dramatic production.
Director Fatih Akin returns to fine form with his latestImage: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Kneffel
While writing the screenplay for what would become "In the Fade," Akin told an interviewer from the Süddeutsche Zeitung that he was "in a very fatalistic phase."
"I worked for a ridiculously long time on 'The Cut,' nearly five years. And I would say that I frittered away some of that time." The screenplay, production and filming had simply taken too much time for him to puzzle out all the details of the feature. "If you spend too much time on those details, you forget a bit about the drama that you want to tell, the inner life of the main character."
'The Cut,' 'Tschick' paved the way
In contrast, "In the Fade" was Akin's fastest-made movie. It was a trick he learned during the filming of "Tschick." The 2016 release landed unexpectedly in Akin's lap after the original director had left the production.
The one-two punch of having a fast production time on "Tschick" after the drawn-out and frustrating process of "The Cut" served as important inspiration for the director's approach to "In the Fade." Akin specializes in telling the "little" stories of simple people, filled with drama and emotion. He is not a director of epic cinema.
"In the Fade" is once again Akin at his finest, a film bursting at the seams with emotion – reminiscent of his 2004 hit "Head-On," which pulled the Berlinale jury and viewing public out of its seats.
Of course there is another reason why "In the Fade" works so well: Akin's rage and consternation at the murders committed by the NSU and above all, the ways the police and prosecutors handled the politically motivated hate crimes, turning the victims into suspects in early stages of the investigation.
Akin: 'That could've been me, too'
In the end, only one of the film's three acts is a courtroom dramaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros./G. Timpen/bomberoint
Akin told the dpa news agency that he considered it scandalous "that the investigators presumed that the victims and their families somehow got wrapped up in some mess – simply because of their ethnic heritage." For the director, it became personal. "As someone with a foreign background, with Turkish roots, I had the feeling that this impacts me personally. That could've been me, too."
The director conceived more than just a courtroom drama. The film consists of three parts. First, viewers see the bombing in which the husband and son of actress Diane Kruger are killed. That's followed by a courtroom drama, and in the closing act, the film picks up the pace and becomes something of a thriller.
Diane Kruger gives the movie its heart
For her spirited performance as the woman whose life has ben turned upside down by the murder of her husband and child, Diane Kruger took home the Cannes Award for Best Actress.
In that respect, it could be viewed as something of a liberation for the German-born actress as well. Widely considered a lightweight, Kruger had never had a part in a German film. But her passionate appearance in "In the Fade" won over everyone – including the very satisfied director.
