Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Das Zeugenhaus" is a German 105-minute movie from 2014, so this one is already over 2 years old. It was made by Matti Geschonneck, one of Germany's most successful small screen filmmakers these days and the script comes from Magnus Vattrodt, who adapted Christiane Kohl's novel here. The cast includes a variety of actors that are pretty well-known here in Germany. But sadly many of them are for the wrong reason. Iris Berben is probably the most popular actress in Germany still in her age group and I find her incredibly bland in everything she is in. She may have okay charisma and screen presence, but in terms of range, the core component for every actor, there is almost nothing to her. Finzi fits a similar description in terms of lack of ability and that he is much more known than he should be. But the biggest disappointment besides Berben are the young actors. Rosalie Thomass and Louis Hofmann are forgettable at best, downright cringeworthy at worst and this does not only apply to this film here. There are okay moments thanks to the likes of Moretti and Schneeberger for example or Brandt was well, but the highest highs of the movie are far from as high as the lowest lows are low if you understand what I mean.I find it baffling how this movie has received such a great deal of awards recognition, even by bodies that I considered capable of perceiving correctly what quality is and what is not. This film here is not. For the most part, it is an embarrassing Berben showcase sadly and there is one quote in the film that summarizes the entire project perfectly. The first scene when Moretti's character sees Berben they wrote him a line that tells me and everybody else how attractive Berben is (despite her age?) in a way that could have been for an embarrassing schmaltzy Rosamunde Pilcher film. Thanks to the topic, there are better moments when the film actually focuses on the characters and their backgrounds, but it just isn't enough. Not even close. This is especially disappointing because the subject offered so much more. It is about a bunch of witnesses who are apparently put together in a house before their testimonies at the Nuremberg Trials, the biggest war crime trials Germany has ever seen and they took place after World War II of course. Instead of making a memorable political thriller, the film lost itself in cheesiness and unrealistic character actions again and again. The actors also were underwhelming and never on a level where they elevated the sub-par material and at least made us think the general plot of putting all of them together into one location made sense. Extremely disappointing. Thumbs-down from me and this film is nowhere near the best Germany had to offer, not even if you only count small screen releases.
