A terrorist attack. They happen over and over and over again in our volatile world. And, when they do, some are targeted. While, in other instances, some just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They shuffle off this mortal coil in however one might explain a death of this sort.
Of course the people who carry out the attack may or may not see it as “terrorism”. And, even if they do, they rationalize it in the name of one or another God. Or ideology. Or “cause”.
Unless, perhaps, here, it’s all wrapped around the criminal element?
When these events do occur, we are sometimes given the names of those who were killed. Perhaps a brief profile of “who they once were”. Then the friends and the families and the loved ones they left behind to grieve.
But suppose, as one of them, you seek to avenge this death? What might that entail?
But who are these terrorists? Are their motives embedded more in the world of drug trafficking…or in political ideology or religion? Or race?
And then the part about the “European identity” in a world awash in “immigrants.”
In any event the plot here revolves around revenge. And that always revolves around the extent to which you are able to sympathize [even empathize] with the one who is now all out to enforce it. Thus even if you were never able to exact revenge against those who have wronged you, you may be able to embed yourself vicariously in the protagonist here.
Then it comes down to whether there either are or are not twists and turns in the plot that you never saw coming. In other words, how ambiguous are the characters and the events being depicted? Then count the cliches.
Also, as one reviewer noted of the title: “The German title ‘From nothing’ better expressed as The Emptiness. Literally it is ‘out of nothing’…”
In other words, the “existential” element.
From the director of Head-On above.
IMDb
The film is divided in the three chapters “The Family”, “Justice” and “The Sea” and cinematographer Rainer Klausmann - shooting with the ARRI Alexa - created a slightly different look for each one. The first chapter was shot mostly outside with a mobile ARRI Alexa in the ‘Super-16’ mode to get a rougher look. The second chapter with the many courtroom scenes used new and extremely sharp anamorphic lenses by ARRI and was shot in a static way. For the third and final chapter, which is set in Greece, Klausmann chose old vintage lenses to get a softer look. The short ‘home video’ segments shown in each chapter were shot on regular smartphones.
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Fade
trailer: youtu.be/BKBqOE3WNu0
In The Fade [Aus dem Nichts] 2017
Written in part and directed by Fatih Akin
[b]Katja [to a driver that almost hits her and her son]: You fucker!
Rocco [her son]: Fucking son-of-a-bitch fucker!
Katja: You OK?
Rocco: Yeah.
Katja: “Son-of-a-bitch fucker?” Did you get that from Dad?
Rocco: No, from my violin lesson.
…
Katja: Lock that bike up or they’ll steal it.
Edda Toller: I’m coming right back.
…
Police woman [to Katja in her car]: The street’s blocked off.
Katja: My husband’s office is right there.
Police woman [handing her a card]: Call this number.
Katja: What happened?
Police woman: An explosion. Move along.
…
Detective [to Katja]: The bodies can’t be identified. We need to do a DNA test.
…
Reetz [chief inspector]: Was your husband religious?
Katja: Excuse me?
Reetz: Was he a Muslim?
Katja: My husband is agnostic.
Reetz: Was he Kurdish? I’m Kurdish!
Father: Why do you ask that?
Reetz: Was he politically active? Did he raise money for any groups?
Katja: No, my husband wasn’t politically active.
Reetz: Did he have enemies?
Katja: What kind of enemies?
Reetz: A bomb was set off in front of his office. We have to assume he was the target.
…
Katja: I want to see my loved ones.
Reetz: They’re no longer people. Only body parts, Mrs. Sekerci.
…
Katja: Do you think they suffered?
Sister: I’m sure they didn’t feel a thing.
Katja: Imagine Rocco lying on the ground, seeing his own limbs around him. Imagine how scared he was.
Sister: They didn’t feel a thing, Katja. They died immediately.
…
Katja: What are they saying?
Sister [reading something from the internet]: “The nail bomb attack killed convicted drug dealer…”
Katja: Motherfuckers.
Sister: “… Nuri S., 37, and his son Rocco, six. An Islamist or political motive has been ruled out.”
…
Katja: Was Nuri still dealing?
Danilo: He’d stopped that.
Katja: Was it about protection money?
Danilo: Nuri could’ve handled that.
Katja: Was he involved in anything? Anything you know of?
Danilo: He wouldn’t have put you guys at risk.
Katja: So who did it?
…
Katja [to Danili]: The Nazis did it. Who else would have a motive?
…
Reetz: Any idea who might’ve done it?
Katja: Nazis did it.
Reetz: How so?
Katja: His office is in a Turkish neighborhood.
Reetz: Were there ever racist incidents there? Like a pig’s head in front of the mosque?
Katja: Not that I know of.
…
Katja: You want me to incriminate my husband and confirm your theory.
Reetz: What theory?
Katja: That he was still dealing drugs!
Reetz: For months, the drugs unit has been surveilling suspects. Some repeatedly called your husband. Can you explain that?
Katja: My husband interpreted for offenders. He had to speak to them. It was his job! Why are you investigating my husband?
Reetz: We’re not investigating him.
Katja: He didn’t murder anyone! He was murdered!
Reetz: We have to assume that your husband maintained his links to the criminal world. We believe he engaged in criminal activities with the murderers. Maybe there was a disagreement, and your son and husband were victims of revenge.
Katja: So, who did it?
Reetz: The Turkish mafia. Or the Kurdish one. Maybe the Albanians.[/b]
That’s the world we live in today.
Danilo [in voicemail nessage]: Hi Katja, it’s Danilo. I tried your cell. Listen, you were right. Nazis did it. They’ve been arrested. Call me.
This is right after she attempted to commit suicide.
[b]Danilo [to Katja pointing to the jail]: They’re rotting in there.
…
Woman [at trial to the court while Katja listens]: The first danger is the shock wave caused by the blast. The child suffered inhalation trauma in the upper respiratory tract, and also barotrauma with acute distention and peripheral bleeding in both lungs. The second danger is debris and shrapnel. The child had a gaping 3 cm wound in the central upper abdomen caused by a jagged metal fragment that was still embedded. It also pierced the eighth vertebra. The resulting wound ripped the small and large intestines. It also tore the liver and totally severed the abdominal artery. The torso sustained over 14 small, round and linear wounds with nails up to 10 cm long embedded at various depths. The third danger is the immense heat. The center of the explosion briefly reaches up to 1,000 C. There were extensive burns to the front of the body, head, face, torso, arms and thighs. The hair was burnt to the scalp at the front of the skull. The eyes also sustained burns and had totally melted. The right forearm was roughly severed at the elbow joint. The limb was found 6 meters from the body…
Katja: I can’t take anymore.
Danilo: You want out?
[she nods and walks towards the door; before reaching it though she turns and lurches towards the defendant hitting her]
Katja: Look at me, you cunt! I’ll kill you!
…
Chief Judge: Mrs. Sekerci, I can well understand your emotional reaction, your outrage. But this court deals only in facts. Should there be another incident, the court must eject you for the rest of the trial for disorderly conduct. Even as co-plaintiff. So long as the accused are not found guilty by a court, they are presumed innocent. Do you understand?
[Katja nods]
…
Chief Judge: Mr. Moller, as a father and direct relative, you may refuse to testify against your son and daughter-in-law. Is that clear?
Mr. Moller: Yes.
Judge: But you wish to testify?
Mr. Moller: Yes.
Chief Judge: Then please proceed.
Mr. Moller: I live in Meldorf, Schleswig-Holstein. The last storm felled a tree in my garden. I went to the garage to fetch the chainsaw. It’s on my property, but my son uses it because I have no car. He lives next door, but we avoid each other.
Chief Judge: Why do you avoid each other?
Mr. Moller: We fell out over his worldview.
Chief Judge: What is his worldview?
Mr. Moller: The one that led to these accusations.
Chief Judge: Could you elucidate?
Mr. Moller: My son reveres Adolf Hitler.
…
Mr. Moller: May I add something?
Chief Judge: Go ahead.
Mr. Moller [turning to face Katja]: I want to take the opportunity to offer my condolences to the victims. I’m so sorry for what happened. You never get over losing a relative. What my son did is wicked, cowardly, and stupid.
…
Sister: How’s the trial going?
Katja: They’ll get their punishment, I promise you.
…
Katja: They’re all in it together.
Danilo: A global Nazi network, all butt-fucking each other.
Katja: Tell it to the judge.
Danilo: About the butt-fucking? Mm. He knows that.
Katja: You should still tell him.
…
Danilio [to the Court]: Witness Sekerci described a woman who left a bike with a top case at the scene of the explosion. She did so before forensics established that the top case contained the bomb. Forensics confirmed her statement about the bike, that it was new and unlocked, and about the top case. They also confirmed that the woman Mrs. Sekerci described must be the perpetrator. Mrs. Sekerci described this woman in the same detail as the new bike with its top case. That woman was the accused. She’s married to the co-accused, whose garage happened to contain traces of the same explosive that blew up outside Nuri ekerci’s office. No drug, drug test or psychological examination can relativize this fact. And anyone who tries to do so has the same base motives as the accused did who murdered my client’s husband and child. And it disgusts me to have to play the defense’s game. Thank you.
…
Chief Judge: On behalf of the people, the court returns the following verdict. The accused, Andr Mller and Edda Mller, are acquitted.
…
Chief Judge: Today’s acquittal is not based on the court’s belief that the defendants are innocent, but that the evidence presented leaves reasonable doubt as to their guilt. Based on the “in dubio pro reo” principle, this doubt requires that we acquit them. The court considered that the defendants did not probably have sole access to the garage. Others may have entered. The key was accessible. One set of fingerprints could not be identified. Co-plaintiff Sekerci stated that she recognized Edda Moller as the person she saw at the crime scene. We were unable to confirm the accuracy of her observation. The co-plaintiff exercised her right to refuse examination to assess her ability to testify.
…
Woman: Can you give me your number so I can call you if I see your friends?
Katja: Sure. It’s, um, 0049
Woman: And what is your name?
Katja: Birgit.
Woman [trying the number]: It’s not working.
[Katja hits the gas to speed away]
Woman: Stay here, you fucking bitch!
…
Edda Moller: She’s not here by chance.
Andre Moller: She’s playing detective, looking for evidence on the Greek alibi.
Edda: Does she know we’re here?
Andre: How would she?
Edda: She found that Greek pig.
Andre: He has a website.
Edda: Let’s go home.
Andre: They’ll stick cameras in our faces!
Edda: What if she finds us?
Andre: If that Turk-whore comes near us, I’ll smash her skull! I’ll put her in the grave with them!
…
Danilo [on the phone]: Katja, where are you? I’ve left you 1,000 voice mails.
Katja: I know.
Danilo: Let’s file an appeal. The deadline’s tomorrow, I have to submit the papers.
Katja: I don’t want to anymore.
Danilo: I know it feels like it’s over, but believe me, it isn’t. We’ll keep going, Katja, we’ll keep going. We’ll get them on an appeal. We’ll take this to Federal Court. They’ll get life. Katja, listen to me. Come to my office tomorrow as early as possible. Everything’s ready. We’ll go through the papers together. I need your signature. Are you coming?
Katja: Yeah, OK.
Danilo: Good. Can you be here at eight?
Katja: I can do eight.
Danilo: Great. The fight goes on Katja.
…
Titlecard: BETWEEN 2000 AND 2007 IN GERMANY, THE “NATIONAL SOCIALIST UNDERGROUND” SHOT NINE PEOPLE FROM IMMIGRANT BACKGROUNDS AND A POLICEWOMAN AND CARRIED OUT MULTIPLE BOMBINGS. THE SOLE MOTIVE BEHIND THEIR ATTACKS WAS THEIR VICTIMS’ NON-GERMAN ORIGINS.[/b]