What to Do in Case of Fire

Once upon a time, there were six friends with a vision of a future in complete freedom, without the restrictions of a government stifling those too young and too foolish to stay within the bounds of what is 'normal'. So these friends lovingly created a homemade bomb and documented the whole process for posterity. They planted the bomb... and forgot all about it. Until twenty years later, when it finally blew up.

Twenty years later, only two of the six are still members of that "Scene" in Berlin, while the others have gone off to get married, have kids, drive Mercedes, make millions in their very own advertisement company or become district attorneys (!). Of course, their later careers will be of little interest, once the police have had a chance to look through the confiscated film material...

This is a great movie, about visions, friendship, solidarity - and anarchy. The plot is solid (in a Bond kind of way), and there is a deliciously ironic final twist.

So, what do you do, when there's a fire burning? Well, let it burn!

Naturally.

The films that I have seen out of Germany are limited I admit, but the ones I have been seeing are just wonderful. I have added to my list of German favorites which include RUN LOLA RUN and THE HARMONISTS, the charming an edgy dramedy WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF FIRE? The characters in this film simply crackle. The plot about a reunion of 80's anarchists zooms along to its conclusion. The film is both funny and real.

It's 1987 in Germany, and the social problems reach a point where there are constant riots and chaos. In the middle of this problems, a group of 6 radical anarchists created a bomb that never exploded... 12 years later the bomb explodes and all the clues point to them. Now they must reunite, and try to eliminate the proofs because now they have grown up, some have children, some have promising careers... and some got stunk in the past.

"Was tun, wenn's brennt?" is a very good movie by promising director Gregg Schnitzler that tells the story of this band of former radicals after 12 years of changes, social and personal. The movie flows at good pace, with good humor and feel-good attitude. Add to the mix an attractive young cast and you get this light comedy.

Probably, that is both its greatest attribute and its greatest flaw: the fact that it has a lot of potential for being a deep character study filled with dark humor, but instead chooses the way of being a light hearted comedy with an upbeat tone.

The movie has very good camera-work, although it has that Hollywoodish feeling that may turn some people away. Those "Hollywood" moments are what probably hurt the film the most, with clichéd scenes that distract us from the point for the sake of getting emotions.

Besides its light tone, the movie manages to deliver its message; past returns to burn you. While Tim (Til Schweiger) and Hotte (Martin Feifel) are still living in the past, the rest of the gang tries to forget it, and ultimately it returns to burn them.

The acting was actually better than expected, with Matthias Matschke as Terror, the former punk turned lawyer (!) stealing every scene he is in. Also, it is worth mentioning the appearance of Klaus Löwitsch as an old cop who still remembers those days before the fall of the wall.

Overall an enjoyable movie that despite its Hollywoodish tone (complete with feel-good ending), it manages to be fresh and more inventive that most Hollywood light comedies. It's definitely worth a rent. 7/10

This was quite a good movie. Perhaps I'm partial for German films, but this was even better because it wasn't about typical German film themes like racial tolerance, finding a lost love from the East-West separation, etc. The film told the story of a five anarchists who set a bomb in a government building in Berlin. The bomb's timer "stopped" and when tampered with 10 or so years later, begins where it left off. Suddenly it blows up the now-abandoned building and these five anarchists who are now older and more conservative must reunite and find a way to once again "smash the system" in order not to get caught. The film concentrated more on plot and less on cinemetography. There were a few nice cinemagraphic scenes however, and at the end, proved to be a heart-warming film. However, the movie was completely unrealistic and didn't touch on the differences of political ideologies as much as the back cover said it would. I think it would have been better if the characters were struggling to identify with each others' new political ideologies while having to work together to realisitically save themselves from their younger anarchistic days.

Well acted and sharply filmed, "What to Do in Case of Fire" showcases six radical German protesters from the Eighties, four of whom have taken on Yuppie identities. Two, one whose legs were cut off by a police vehicle during a demonstration, and his buddy, an unreconstructed rebel a la Berlin variety, still hope for Der Tag (whatever that might be).

This gang formerly used film to spread their message, insidiously splicing their propaganda takes into innocuous reels. A police raid results in the seizure of many reels of film which will implicate the six for their acts many years early. So what we have (predictably: no spoilers here) is a caper film, mostly comedy but with the requisite bitter dollop of drama - lost love as well as legs) in which the reunited sextet tries to figure out a way to get or destroy the films before the police have a sachertorte und popcorn screening.

There are both funny and sad moments in this American-produced film. The acting is fresh while the underlying story is not exactly original. But...the German radicals of the Seventies and later weren't funny. They killed and destroyed. They didn't project, I'm sure, the endearing qualities of our cohort of six including a got-rich-in-the-market ad exec who boasts of a Manhattan pad and wears an "I Love Bill Gates" shirt.

So a viewer has to put aside sensibilities and fears about the terrorism that is a constant part of our lives to enjoy this film. Okay, I did laugh a bit but I was uneasy as the group sought a solution that in real life could only result in bad things happening to many people. Slaptstick humor and terrorism? Belief really needs to be suspended.

All that said, as film "What to Do in Case of Fire" hangs together and will be enjoyable for many.

6/10. Available for rental on DVD.