37/10
Twelve years after his escape, the professional criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. In the city, they are trying to steal a valuable painting. But the carefully planned robbery soon goes out of control… Im Schatten (2010) follows. During the 2009 World Athletics Championships. In Berlin, viewers were able to see how the professional criminal Troyan (Michel MATICEVICH) from IM SCHATTEN (2010) had to leave the capital for an indefinite period. The Trojan still acts in a similar way: it commits old-fashioned crimes, such as stealing material objects such as time, money, and pictures. No attachment to the mafia or clan structure, a lone fighter, only occasionally and if necessary in a team! When a coup in the Ruhr region does not go as planned, Troyan must return to Berlin to contact old contacts (Marie-Lou Selem). And indeed: together with three companions (Tim Seifey, Marie LEUENBERGER, Bilge BINGHUL) Troyan manages to steal a valuable painting by Kaspar David FRIEDRICH. But then problems really begin with the mysterious client Victor (Alexander FELLING)… At BERLIN 2010, the film by a native of Braunschweig Thomas ARSLAN «IM SCHATTEN» caused a sensation as a long-awaited genre bomb. An exciting German-made genre film told through the cinematographic means of the Berlin school. Extremely exciting, with rare dialogues and explosive moments of violence! ARSLAN follows this with VERBRANNTE ERDE seemingly smoothly. Gangster films are still rare in German cinema. With great accuracy, the images of cinematographer Reinhold WORSCHNEIDER (also IM SCHATTEN) tell about people living in a ghostly version of Germany. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby attractions, but away from the perception of the police and ordinary people. Berlin acts as a teammate and adversary of the film’s main characters. This tense atmosphere is largely facilitated by the restrained score by the Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM («THE MOST PRECIOUS MAN IN THE WORLD», 2021). It shows the capital that you know but don’t know. Many viewers will be able to recognize this urban space with all its roads from their own surroundings. Ghostly places are very close to us: scorched earth in the shadows! Michel MATICHEVICH (BEFORE THE CRIME / BABYLON BERLIN) is again very convincing in the role of Troyan, whom we will probably see again (Thomas ARSLAN plans to appear in the Trojan trilogy). Nominee for the German Film Award Marie Lou SELEM (nominated for the film «KNOCHEN UND NAMEN / BONES AND NAMES» in 2024) acts as an icy mediator. But the owner of the GERMAN FILM PREMIUM Alexander FELLING (2019 for the film «THE END OF TRUTH») is frighteningly good, and he really should not hide from classic villains such as Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER. Thomas ARSLAN to; I don’t want to spend as much time on the third film of his Trojan trilogy as he spent in the period from 2010 to 2024. It remains exciting!