50/50
Follows Im Schatten (2010)
After twelve years on the run, the criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. A valuable painting has to be stolen in the city. But the carefully planned robbery soon gets out of control.. At the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, viewers saw how the professional criminal Trojan (Misel MATICEVIC) in IM SCHATTEN (2010) had to leave the capital for an indefinite period. Trojan still operates in a rather similar way: old-fashioned crimes such as stealing tangible objects such as watches, cash and paintings.
But then the trouble really begins with the mysterious client, Viktor (Alexander Fehling)
No ties to the mafia or clan structure, a lone fighter, only occasionally and with a team! When a coup in the Ruhr area does not go according to plan, Trojan has to return to Berlin to use his old connections (Marie-Lou SELLEM). And indeed: with his three friends (Tim SEYFI, Marie LEUENBERGER, Bilge BINGÜL), Trojan manages to steal a valuable painting by Kaspar David FRIEDRICH. BERLIN 2010 Braunschweig-born director Thomas ARSLAN’s film IM SCHATTEN hit like a long-awaited genre bomb. An exciting genre film shot in Germany, told using the cinematic tools of the Berlin School.
He follows up seemingly unnoticed with ARSLAN VERBRANNTE ERDE
Extremely exciting, with rare dialogues and explosive moments of violence! Gangster films are still a rarity in German cinema. Cinematographer Reinhold WORSCHNEIDER’s (aka IM SCHATTEN) images tell the story of people living in a shadowy version of Germany with chilling precision. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby attractions, and yet far from the perception of the police and the average citizen. Berlin appears as both a co-star and antagonist for the film’s characters.
It shows the capital that you know but don’t know
The restrained music of the Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM (WORST PERSON, 2021) contributes greatly to this tense atmosphere. Many viewers will be able to recognize this urban sprawl with all its paths from their surroundings. Ghostly places very close to us: scorched earth in the shadows!Misel MATICEVICH (CRIMINAL Stage / BABYLON BERLIN) is again very convincing in the role of Troy, whom we will probably see again (Tomas ARSLAN is planning a kind of Troy trilogy). GERMAN FILM AWARD nominee Marie Lou SELLEM (KNOCHEN UND NAMEN / BONES AND NAMES nominated for 2024) is like an ice-cold mediator. But GERMAN FILM AWARD WINNER Alexander Fehling (winner of 2019’s DAS ENDE DER WAHRHEIT / THE END OF TRUTH) is frighteningly good and really doesn’t have to hide from classic villains like Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER.
Thomas ARSLANS does it
Don’t want to spend as much time with the third film in his Troy trilogy as you did in 2010 and 2024. Still exciting!