Soundless

Coming totally left-field in the German movie landscape, this movie takes the clichés of the genre and twists them around and brings a fresh new perspective. It is like a breathe of fresh air that rekindles the dying embers of this style of movies. The images are crisp and clean, with interesting shots, which break the mold that this convoluted genre at times shows. It must be said that the music in this movie is not just background static, as it is in most motion pictures. Quite the contrary, it adds a layer of psychological depth to the characters, as if the acting weren't enough. All in all, it is a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final denouement. I'm looking forward to more of this director!

This is a thoughtful film, rich in implication. It begins in a bedroom, which is being monitored by some police agency, we don't know who. They have the room bugged, and under camera surveillance, and a hit man still manages to do his job. We learn as the film goes on that this hit man is effective precisely because he studies his subjects, gets to know them so well that he can think like them. Deep sympathetic powers are the source of his deadly capabilities. This element is doubled in the cop assigned to stop him - another student of human nature, who uses observation and intuitive sympathy to predict the hit man's moves. Each of these characters is profoundly able to be intimate with the object of his quest. The development of the bond between the hit man and the woman he loves works out this theme of intimate knowledge and sympathy on a parallel plane. The psychological truth of this keeps us entranced by the film despite some elaborate technological machinations (the hit man's wall of fire, for example) that would normally defy credibility.

Interesting crime film that left me as confused at the end as I was at the beginning. Except for an undeveloped reference about a murder when the killer was nine years old, the film just doesn't give us enough information about a cold-blooded (but perfectionist) killer. It's too slick by half, although the visuals are quite stunning. One critic suggested that you're not supposed to examine this too closely -- just absorb what you see and enjoy it. Fair enough if that's good enough for you. I could not engage with the characters, who seem like they're seeking an author in a Pirandello play. The acting is first-rate, the forensics interesting (if you like that kind of procedural stuff), but in the end it lacked a solid story that made you want to care about Viktor, the silent, soundless killer.

This is a very interesting perspective of action movies in other countries.No thoughtless Hollywood action flick here. This one is very well done. No overblown special effects, shootouts, chases. Very very realistic. NO cheesy one-liners or nonsense swearing. This one has normal colors and tones that make it seem real. Excellent acting from the actor who plays Felix. Also, the music adds a soft touch and expands the characteristics and the moods throughout the movie. It takes out the overblown action music and replaces it with a soft beat that adds in the suspense. Excellent movie! Additionally, good movie for anyone who would like to expand their German, like me!Actually understood most of the words without reading subtitles... 8/10

The action film, like the crime novel, is a satisfying ritual—with an allegory of good overcoming evil as its centerpiece—for many people. In the USA, this is normally done with famous stars and elaborate stunts, the better to make it "realistic" and "believable." I pass on most of those films because they seem silly to me. I cannot "buy" their pretensions to believability.

"Soundless" makes no pretense of believability. This film sustains a stylized, dreamlike quality throughout. The story is carried by the images. The dialog is banal because it is incidental. (That is in keeping, and does not detract from the film for me.) I found it thoroughly refreshing to spend ninety-four minutes in that dream, at the Philadelphia Film Festival.

This year, I have seen a veritable treasure trove of new German films that took themes seen before, and took them in new directions in keeping with changed times. While a wide theater release for "Soundless" may be too much to hope for, I hope it will be available for people in the USA desiring to see it.