For Tribune : SMALL TOWNS IN GERMANY (Antibodies; Requiem)

Published on: November 20th, 2006



Antibodies   [6/10]
Germany 2004
Starring : Wotan Wilke Mohring, Andreas Hennicke
Director : Christian Alvart
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Requiem   [8/10]                
Germany 2006
Starring : Sandra Huller, Burghart Klaussner
Director : Hans-Christian Schmid
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both films released in the UK, 17th November 2006
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BY an odd quirk of scheduling, two of this week's new releases happen to be intense, notably well-acted psychological dramas-cum-character-studies about devout Catholics from rural Bavaria: Alvart's slicky, twisty, two-hour-plus, commercially-minded policier Antibodies, and Schmid's more terse, austere and disturbing Requiem, which has attracted prizes and praise on the film-festival circuit since premiering at Berlin back in February. Antibodies is a cop-vs-serial-killer thriller with a religious subtext – a subtext which, while intriguing, does make it come across rather like a big-screen variant of the BBC's recurring Sunday-night serial Messiah. There's more than enough Antibodies, indeed, to suggest that a recut, extended version could find a cosy home on television – and this would have the benefit of giving us more of the film's single most successful element, the central performance by the marvellously-named Wotan Wilke Mohring.

He's Michael Martens, his 'beat' a small, religiously-devout village still traumatised by the recent murder of a young girl. When Martens hears that his Berlin colleagues have arrested a self-confessed serial-killer (Hennicke) who may well be responsible for the girl's death, he travels to the capital and soon finds himself enmeshed in a katz-und-maus game that'll be familiar to anyone who's seen Michael Mann's Manhunter or Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs. But there are plenty of original touches and character details which accumulate to ensure Antibodies isn't just yet another Euro-variation on tired Hollywood tropes.

The guilt-tormented Martens' difficult role within his community, not to mention within his own dysfunctional extended family, are far from straightforward, and Mohring deserves praise for making a not entirely sympathetic character into such a compelling and morally complex creation. Mohring didn't write the script, of course, and Alvart, although establishing himself as a promising talent with only his second feature, can't quite match the very high standard set by his leading-man. The third act – in which various biblical references are laid on with a heavy hand, and the plot gets snarled up in its own twisty tangles – isn't quite up to the gangbusters opening or the enthrallingly slow-burning middle section.

WHEREAS Antibodies seems to have been made with one eye on the German multiplexes, Requiem is decidedly more "arthouse" in tone and execution. But there's actually an even closer connection with Hollywood here: it's inspired by the exact same real-life events which formed the loose basis for last year's intriguing hybrid of courtroom drama and gothic horror, The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It's the mid-seventies, and Michaela Klingler (Huller) is accepted to study teaching at a nearby university. Her father (Klaussner) is cautiously pleased; his bad-tempered wife Marianne (Imogen Kogge) has severe reservations, worrying that Michaela – who has a history of seizures, kept in check by daily medication – isn't yet ready to leave home. The pressures of student life rapidly exacerbate Michaela's condition, and she becomes increasingly skeptical that the solution lies in medicine or psychiatry. Her intense Catholic faith leads her to a more horrifying conclusion: demonic possession…

Though the character's experiences are nightmarish in the extreme, Michaela is undoubtedly a 'dream role' for any young actress – albeit one which could easily veer into 'audition-piece' mannerism. Huller, however, is never less than engaging and believable at every stage in what becomes a gruelling journey into neurosis and psychosis – or, to take the character's own perspective and diagnosis – diabolism. Schmid, for his part, is scrupulously careful to keep the metaphysical very firmly in check: Requiem could be interpreted as an indictment of various institutions in 1970s West Germany, from the Catholic Church to Tubingen University (specifically its pastoral-care functions) to the state's medical and psychiatric representatives. From our perspective, Michaela appears to be 'failed' by no single organisation, but by a combination of circumstances – exacerbated by the specific details of her stultifying home environment. But there's much more to Requiem than these prosaic sociological explanations: Schmid's achievement is to make a film shot through with the mysteries of faith and devotion, while keeping his – and our – feet very firmly on the ground. The result is one of the year's strangest, most strikingly atmospheric, most troubling releases.

Neil Young
7th November, 2006
(written for Tribune magazine; online publication delayed due to FDA embargo)

ANTIBODIES : [6/10] : Antikorper : Germany 2004 : Christian ALVART : 127 mins (BBFC timing) : seen at Cameo cinema, Edinburgh (UK), 27th August 2005 – public show (Edinburgh International Film Festival)

REQUIEM : [8/10] : Germany 2006 (copyright-dated 2005) : Hans-Christian SCHMID : 91 mins (timed) : seen at Odeon West End, London (UK), 28th October 2006 – public show (paid  £11.00, London Film Festival)

still available : the original, longer reviews of Antibodies and Requiem