In the Fade
Drama following a woman whose family is killed in a terrorist attack has little to recommend it beyond Diane Kruger's moving central performance
Diane Kruger plays Katja, a white German woman who lives in Hamburg with her Turkish husband, Nuri (Acar) and their young son, Rocco (Santana). After Nuri is targeted by neo-Nazi terrorists, he and Rocco are killed in a bomb attack and Katja is left to seek revenge for the death of her family.
For a film with a provocative and contemporary subject matter, In the Fade plays it surprisingly safe. Rather than focusing on how the terrorist attack affects the Turkish and Kurdish communities in the city, Fatih Akin quickly paints Nuri’s parents as cruel antagonists to Katja before they are completely written out of the film. Instead, we watch Katja attempt to bring the terrorists to justice in a long and dull court trial, and after that fails, takes matters into her own hands.
Other than Kruger’s moving performance, In the Fade falls flat. Undoubtedly there’s a better film in there and it’s a shame Akin doesn’t delve deeper. [Katie Goh]
Released by Curzon Artificial Eye