In The Fade [Aus dem Nichts] ***** (2017, Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Numan Acar) – Movie Review

Really good, serious-minded German thriller. Diane Kruger great!

Writer-director Fatih Akin’s In The Fade [Aus dem Nichts] (2017) is a really good, serious-minded, grown-up German thriller. Diane Kruger is great as Katja Sekerci, who seeks revenge after the death of her Turkish-born Kurdish husband Nuri (Numan Acar) and young son Rocco (Rafael Santana) in an obscene nail bomb attack on Nuri’s translation and tax office in Hamburg.

After several foreign movies I am struggling to come to terms with, I guess Diane Kruger and a film I can understand is better, loads better. In The Fade is crystal clear, and its clarity is devastating. Why beat around the bush when you can beat the audience over the head with the bush? In The Fade sweeps you passionately along with the dynamism of real truth. Akin has something on his mind – it is prejudice, racism and injustice, and, although we are talking specifically Germany, we can all respond to this, especially when the message comes so urgently and impactfully.

The main suspects are the vile neo-Nazi husband and wife André (Ulrich Brandhoff) and Edda Möller (Hanna Hilsdorf) but their trial is a mockery. Denis Moschitto scores quietly in the other main role as Katja’s lawyer Danilo Fava, Nuri’s friend, who tries to steer her through the mess. And, dare I say it? After all the nerve-tingling drama, In The Fade even has a completely satisfying ending.

It was Germany’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission, but it did not win. However, it is the 2018 Golden Globe winner for Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language. And Kruger won the Best Actress award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It is good to hear her speaking her native German for once. That seems to help to inspire her performance.

She was once The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships as Helen in Brad Pitt’s Troy. But she has survived and prospered. At 41 her beauty is undiminished, while her acting has moved up several gears. Here she is in top gear. Back in May 2018, and another Cannes Film Festival, she won the Woman Wearing the Best Frock Ever award at this year’s Cannes.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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