Der blinde Fleck (2007) Reviews

• Close, But No Cigar

  bateman-162007-10-02

  Der Blinde Fleck is a made-for-TV production, as well as the director's graduation movie. The cast is surprisingly illustrious considering the scale and budget, with Jan Gregor Kremp (of 23 fame) and Nina Petri in the starring roles. Kremp plays a police detective, Karl König, whose life seems to fall apart when his teenage daughter (Henriette Schmidt) is arrested under the suspicion of having shot two of her father's colleagues. He refuses to even consider that his child might be the perpetrator, and instead focuses his efforts on blaming his daughter's left-wing, anti-globalisation boyfriend (Jakob Diehl), who is on the run. At the same time Karl gets increasingly isolated at work; his wife (Petri) also doesn't share his unlimited belief in their daughter's innocence. Karl ignores his duty as well as old friendships to save his beloved child from prison. The situation reaches its emotional apex when he incidentally finds the boyfriend. The movie's first half is a surprising piece of craftsmanship - there are some memorable images, the story is told at a swift pace and, most importantly, the whole thing has a true 'movie' feel to it. The camera-work and music are rather bold by German mainstream standards and help elevating the movie's appearance, even though sometimes the soundtrack can be a bit overwhelming, just as a few images seem forcefully under-lit. Der Blinde Fleck's problems lie mainly with the characters, which becomes all too obvious come the second half, as the proceedings slow down significantly. Kremp is a fine actor, but Karl König is a roughly hewn protagonist. The point of his utter and reckless devotion to his family is presented very bluntly, and given little background. He shifts uneasily from good natured and straightforward to devastated and cruel. His sudden bursts of violence don't fit with the rest of his character. His personal descent is portrayed in a few awkward set pieces, which oftentimes do not appear cohesive. Nina Petri as his wife is underused and remains pale; her only obvious feature is to present her as a more composed version of her husband. Schmidt does a fine job, even though some of her dialogue feels a bit artificial (which is one of the script's general problems). Jakob Diehl shines in his few scenes as the self-satisfied bastard who begins the whole story. His stilted choice of words and smart ass delivery work perfectly for the role and change one of the script's weaknesses into a strength when it comes to his character. Der Blinde Fleck cannot be blamed for a lack of ambition. The movie would be a truly astonishing debut, if only all the basics had been given more attention.

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