Director:
Hans Weingartner
Cast:
Daniel Brühl …. Jan
Julia Jentsch …. Jule
Stipe Erceg …. Peter
Burghart Klaußner …. Hardenberg
Peer Martiny …. Villenbesitzer
Petra Zieser …. Villenbesitzerin
Laura Schmidt …. Tochter
Sebastian Butz …. Sohn
The Movie
I’ll be honest from the get-go about this film: I didn’t think I would enjoy it because it is subtitled. Generally you have to pay more attention to subtitled movies because of the whole reading thing and I wasn’t looking forward to all the reading. But I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.
Jan and Peter are two best friends/political activists who preach about the evils of capitalism. They basically do the same kind of protesting most do, handing out fliers at shoe stores that let the customer know how little the children of Southeast Asia are paid to make the shoes being bought. The only difference is that when night comes around, Jan and Peter take a different approach: They break into wealthy people’s homes. While many of us would steal many things, they simply rearrange the furniture and leave a note stating, “You have too much money. The Edukators” or “Your days of plenty are numbered.” This plants fear in the wealthy, so rather than ruining their possessions, they ruin them mentally.
Complications arise in the form of Peter’s girlfriend, Jule. Jule is having many a financial problem and it is catching up with her. She is evicted from her apartment and must move in with Peter and Jan. When Peter goes away, Jan helps Jule clean up her old apartment so she won’t lose the deposit. They hit it off so well that Jan tells her about what he and Peter take part in. While somewhat nervous at first, Jule quickly gets into the scheme of things and wants to visit the man who is ruining her life, Hardenberg. Jule, driving an unregistered, uninsured vehicle, rear ended Hardenberg and now must pay 100,000 euros to recoup the damage. Jule and Jan pay Hardenberg’s home a visit, and this is where the trouble starts.
What will happen when Hardenberg gets wind of who broke into his house? What will Peter think about Jan and Jule’s new bond? These are questions best left for you to find out.
This movie is a gem. Plain and simple. First you have spirited performances from all actors involved. Daniel Brühl stands out from the pack as he makes every problem that Jan runs into believable and emotional. Julia Jentsch is fantastic as well, flawlessly turning Julie from a directionless twit to deviant but conflicted thug.
The plot itself is rather ingenious, as not too many people would come up with rearranging the furniture instead of stealing the S-Class.
Overall, wonderfully directed, wonderfully acted and wonderfully written. That makes this film wonderful and one of my top ten this year.
Score: 9.5/10
The Video
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen – No complaints from me here. There have been some questions about the camerawork for the movie in terms of angles and motion. That is part of the movie and works well. It doesn’t pull anything away from the movie experience.
The Sound
5.1 Dolby Digital in German – Like I said, subtitles.
The Extras
None. Zip, zilch, nada. No, they don’t have Nada 3.
Score: 0/10
