Horst in Translation ([email protected])
Or maybe I should say on the bright side of the moon. "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes" is a German movie that premiered last year already, but the wide release was this year (2016) in pretty much all countries, including Germany as well. The director is Stephan Rick and he is also one of the writers who adapted Swiss author Martin Suter's novel. Suter has written the base material for quite a few somewhat known German movies in this new millennium. This fairly recent film here may be Suter's and Rick's most known work until this point. One reason is probably that Moritz Bleibtreu plays the main character in this 95-minute film, even if it's not him who is first-credited, but legendary German actor Jürgen Prochnow. However, Prochnow is really only supporting. Austrian actress Nora von Waldstätten plays the biggest female part. I myself would say that I like Prochnow and don't mind Bleibtreu and von Waldstätten. Another actor known to German audiences is André Hennicke ("Downfall"). In my opinion, however, this film is a bit of a missed opportunity. It lives through the acting and also through the atmospheric setting, but I never really got too interested in the story or the characters and what happened to them or may happen to them in the future. I guess this is maybe not even the filmmakers' fault, but maybe even the original writer's fault that I did not find the base material and core story too appealing. I have seen some other films based on Suter's work and I certainly preferred "Giulias Verschwinden", maybe some more as well.The story here is about a successful lawyer who goes on a mushroom trip with a woman he meets and dives deeper into her works. This trip the lawyer does not return from (I heard that in a Daniel Brühl film already) and it becomes a story about police investigation, but much more about crime and murder. Bleibtreu is decent for the main part. Could have been better. Could have been worse. But overall, I still must say I am a bit surprised how popular this film has become. You can probably say that almost two decades after "Lola rennt", Bleibtreu (unlike Potente) is still a major crowd magnet. In my opinion, the film does not deserve its popularity, even if I would not blame Bleibtreu for it (or not majorly blame him). There are many superior German films that have not attracted 10% of the attention this film attracted. I guess sometimes cheap thrills, like pointless animal killing on several occasions that add almost nothing to the story, are still what wide audiences want to see. Or should I say "fall for"? I myself give "The Dark Side of the Moon" a thumbs-down and I do not recommend the watch as it has very little to offer beyond a solid take on atmosphere.
