Verbrannte Erde

During the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the audience was able to see how the professional criminal Trojan (Misel MATICEVIC) from IM SCHATTEN (2010) had to leave the capital for an indefinite period of time. Trojan still operates in a rather analogue way: old-fashioned crimes such as stealing tangible objects such as watches, cash and paintings. No connections to a mafia or clan structure, a lone fighter, only occasionally and out of necessity on the team! When a coup in the Ruhr area does not go as planned, Trojan has to return to Berlin to tap into old contacts (Marie-Lou SELLEM). And indeed: Together with three comrades (Tim SEYFI, Marie LEUENBERGER, Bilge BINGÜL), Trojan manages to steal a valuable painting by Caspar David FRIEDRICH. But then the trouble with the mysterious client Viktor (Alexander FEHLING) really starts...

At the BERLINALE 2010, IM SCHATTEN by Braunschweig-born director Thomas ARSLAN hit like a long-awaited genre bomb. An exciting genre film made in Germany was told using the cinematic means of the Berlin School. Extremely exciting, with sparse dialogue and explosive violent moments! ARSLAN follows on from this with VERBRANNTE ERDE seemingly seamlessly. Gangster films are still a rarity in German cinema. With cool precision, the images by cameraman Reinhold VORSCHNEIDER (also IM SCHATTEN) tell of people who live in a shadow version of Germany. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby sights, and yet far away from the perception of the police and the normal population. Berlin appears as a co-player and opponent of the film's protagonists. The understated music by Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, 2021) contributes a lot to this tense atmosphere. It shows a capital that you know and yet don't. Many viewers will be able to recognize this urban sprawl with all its roads from their own surroundings. Ghostly places very close to us: scorched earth in the shadows!

Misel MATICEVIC (IN THE FACE OF CRIME / BABYLON BERLIN) is once again very convincing in the role of Trojan, of whom we will probably see more (Thomas ARSLAN is planning a kind of Trojan trilogy). GERMAN FILM AWARD nominee Marie Lou SELLEM (nominated for KNOCHEN UND NAMEN / BONES AND NAMES in 2024) is there as the ice-cold mediator. But GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Alexander FEHLING (2019 winner for DAS ENDE DER WAHRHEIT / THE END OF THE TRUTH) is frighteningly good and really doesn't have to hide from classic villains like Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER.

Thomas ARSLAN doesn't want to take as much time with the third film in his Trojan trilogy as he did between 2010 and 2024. It remains exciting!