30/26
Twelve years after his escape, professional criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. A valuable painting is stolen in the city. But the carefully planned robbery quickly gets out of control… Im Schatten (2010) follows. During the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the audience saw how professional criminal Trojan (Misel MATIĆEVIĆ) from IM SCHATTEN (2010) had to leave the capital for an indefinite period. Trojan still operates in a fairly similar way: old-fashioned crimes such as the theft of tangible objects such as watches, money and pictures. No connection to the mafia or the clan structure, a lone fighter, only occasionally and out of necessity in a team! When a coup in the Ruhr area does not go as planned, Trojan has to return to Berlin to make use of old contacts (Marie-Lou SELLEM). And indeed: Together with three friends (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 FEHLING)… At the BERLINALE 2010, IM SCHATTEN by Braunschweig-born director Thomas ARSLAN became a hit as a long-awaited genre bomb. An exciting genre film shot in Germany is told using the cinematic means of the Berlin School. Extremely emotional, with rare dialogues and explosively violent moments! ARSLAN follows with VERBRANNTE ERDE seemingly without interruption. Gangster films are still a rarity in German cinema. With cold precision, the images of cinematographer Reinhold VORSCHNEIDER (also IM SCHATTEN) tell of people who live in a version of Germany in the shadows. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby monuments, but far from the perception of the police and the normal population. Berlin appears as a teammate and adversary of the film’s protagonist. The discreet music of Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, 2021) contributes significantly to this tense atmosphere. It shows the capital you know and don’t know. Many viewers in their environment will be able to recognize this urban spread with all its streets. Ghostly places very close to us: scorched earth in the shadows! Misel MATIĆEVIĆ (PRED LICEM ZLOČINA / BABYLON BERLIN) is once again very convincing in the role of Trojan, whom we will probably see again (Thomas ARSLAN is planning a kind of Trojan trilogy). GERMAN FILM AWARD nominee Marie Lou SELLEM (nominated for KNOCHEN UND NAMEN / BONES AND NAMES 2024) is present as an icy mediator. But GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Alexander FEHLING (2019 winner for DAS ENDE DER WAHRHEIT / THE END OF THE TRUTH) is frighteningly good and doesn’t really have to hide from classic villains like Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER. Thomas ARSLAN doesn’t. ;I don’t want to devote as much time to the third film of my Troy trilogy as he did between 2010 and 2024. Stay exciting!