In the Shadows

Thomas Arslan's 2010 German film follows Trojan, just out of prison. He returns to Berlin, looks up his old contacts and prepares a robbery, with both his former partners and a policeman on his trail. The film strips away the ornaments of the crime genre entirely. There is almost no music, the dialogue is short and the violence is over quickly; the narrative shows waiting, driving and counting money without cutting away. Arslan belongs to a generation known in German cinema for formal plainness. Mišel Matičević leads, and almost nothing is learned about his character; the narrative refuses to explain the past. Who it's for: those who like austerely constructed crime films and German independent cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting depth of character; the film keeps its protagonist deliberately closed.