Labyrinth of Lies
| Labyrinth of Lies | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Giulio Ricciarelli |
| Written by |
Giulio Ricciarelli Elisabeth Bartel |
| Starring | Alexander Fehling |
| Cinematography |
|
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Labyrinth of Lies (German: Im Labyrinth des Schweigens) is a 2014 German drama film directed by Giulio Ricciarelli. Based on true events, it was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[1] The film was selected as the German submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards,[2][3] making the December shortlist of nine films, but it was not nominated.[4][5]
Cast
- Alexander Fehling as Johann Radmann
- Johannes Krisch as Simon Kirsch
- Friederike Becht as Marlene
- Hansi Jochmann as Sekretärin
- Johann von Bülow as Otto Haller
- Gert Voss as Fritz Bauer
- Robert Hunger-Bühler as Walter Friedberg
- André Szymanski as Thomas Gnielka
- Tim Williams as Major Parker
Plot
It's 1958, Johann Radmann is a young and idealistic public prosecutor who takes an interest in the case of Charles Schulz, a former Auschwitz extermination camp commander, who is now teaching at a school in Frankfurt am Main. Radmann is determined to bring Schulz to justice, but he finds his efforts frustrated because many former Nazis serve in the government, and they look out for each other.
His boss, the prosecutor-general Fritz Bauer, puts him in charge of investigating former workers at the Auschwitz camp. The U.S. occupation forces give him access to their files and he discovers there were 8,000 of them. He goes after Josef Mengele, who is living in Argentina but flies back to West Germany at will to visit his family. After officialdom block his attempt to issue an arrest warrant, his boss warns him off and tells him to stick to the small fry. The department then invites Mossad agents to visit, and shares its information with them. As a result, Adolf Eichmann is kidnapped and tried in Israel. Having pulled off this coup, Israel declines to pursue Mengele.
Meanwhile, Radmann allows himself to be seduced by Marlene, a seamstress who, benefiting from his connections, is able to start a business as a dress designer. He is brought to a crisis when he discovers that his own father was in the Nazi party. After he tells her that her father too was in the Nazi Party she breaks it off with him. By the end of the film there is a chance she will have him back. He resigns his official post and goes to work for an industrialist. There he is again confronted with the question of do what is right, or do what the system needs and wants you to do.
When he finds this means working with a colleague who had defended a former Nazi he was investigating, he walks out, his idealism suffering its hard encounters with the world. At every turn the "system" wants compliance. He wants justice. He comes to understand that the only thing that can hope to meet the horror is not "justice", but attention to the lives and stories of those who suffered the injustice. Growing out of the simplistic right/wrong moralizing, he comes to understand life as more complex and seeks to repair all the damages, large and small, he inflicted in his zeal.
After going to Auschwitz to say kaddish, the Jewish mourning prayer, for a friend's two daughters who were killed there, he goes back to work for the West German state prosecutor. The film ends with the opening of the trial of several hundred former Auschwitz workers.
Accolades
At 2014's Les Arcs European Cinema Festival, the film received a Special Mention from the Jury, and won the Prix du Public (audience award).[6][7]
See also
- The People vs. Fritz Bauer (2015)
- List of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of German submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ↑ "TIFF Adds 'Clouds of Sils Maria' and 'Two Days, One Night,' Reveals 5 More Lineups". Indiewire. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ "Germany Picks Final Eight Titles to Vie for Oscar Submission". IndieWire. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ↑ Roxborough, Scott (27 August 2015). "Oscars: Germany Picks 'Labryinth of Lies' for Foreign Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ↑ "9 Foreign Language Films Advance In Oscar Race". Oscars. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ↑ Kilday, Gregg (17 December 2015). "Oscars: Nine Titles Advance in Foreign Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ↑ ""The Fool" de Yuriy Bykov remporte la Flèche de Cristal". ledauphine.com. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ↑ Elsa Keslassy (19 December 2014). "Yury Bykov’s ‘The Fool’ Wins Top Prize at Les Arcs". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2015.