Der geköpfte Hahn (2007) Reviews

• A timeless masterpiece

  tudornserban2009-02-25

  I was intrigued even from the start of the film by the appearance of the symbol itself (a beheaded rooster) that creates an atmosphere which is ominous and dark ,if Balkanic, within very light and warm images portraying the Saxon civilization from Transylvania at the beginning of WWII. The freshness of the main cast, along with the wonderful lightness of the images and the dreamlike music, make this film of a complexity and depth that needs to be discovered and re-discovered. I don't think it fits in any kind of trend, genre, wave, school or generation into which some people try to include it. "The Beheaded Rooster" is simply a wonderful film.

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• Timely and Enjoyable

  bloggerboyffm2010-02-21

  I watched the German version of the film. Although this is not a great film, I think it is quite good,especially considering the obviously small budget and the young actors involved. I was taken in by all four main actors, particularly Ioana Iacob and Alicja Bachleda. The camera loves them. The casting of the two male leads was just fine, too. David Zimmerschied was perfect as a geeky Hitlerjugend. I also cannot follow the criticism that the actors are somehow overly theatrical or that the film is devoid of emotion. Actually, it is quite an emotional film, but the great losses, both personal and cultural, are not shown directly in the film except for the symbolic picture of Felix's house going up in flames right before the end. The personal loss really only comes out as a footnote at the end, when the writer reveals the story's outcome to Gisela's lookalike. This loss is, of course, a very politically sensitive topic. German-speaking artists want to make sure not to overplay the sense of loss or wrongdoing for fear of playing into the hands of people on the extreme right and for fear of offending the peoples who suffered so heavily under the Germans during the war. That is a story for others to tell (see, e.g., I Served the King of England). The film does jump around at the beginning in a way that may confuse viewers, and the narrative is a bit choppy in places. It would have been a good idea to flash dates or otherwise provide historical context so that we knew exactly when each scene was playing. The soft focus of the flashback was just a tad too romantic, the colors in the film, just a tad too bright. The heavy scent of nostalgia, however, probably is culturally authentic for Germans of a certain age in the former Austro-Hungarian empire. I do agree that some scenes somehow missed reaching their potential. The tension and attraction between Felix and Gisela just never seemed to reach the right temperature. Alfa, on the other hand, was really convincing and sexy as a high-strung noble lass torn between darkness and light. What is timely about this film is that it is part of a development since the fall of communism to tell the story of the price that Germans and German-speaking minorities paid for Germany's attempt to conquer Europe. (See, e.g., Nobel Prize in Literature given to Herta Müller.) No single film is going to be able to tell the entire story. The Beheaded Rooster focuses on a very limited time and place and still has to leave out lots of details. I wonder how historically accurate it is. Did the Jews in fascist Romania not have to wear gold stars? How far were the Nuremberg Laws implemented? Were there no mass deportations, etc? Nevertheless, what is convincing about the film is the tension among different groups in the society, the fluidity of a situation in which individuals may have had more freedom of action than often is believed, in spite of the threat from above. I recognized myself in the younger characters Felix and Hans. The hunt and capture games in the woods, the blood brotherhood, the betrayal of friendships. These are universal themes. We also experience the political tensions within Felix's family. (Granted, the Nazi aunt is overplayed, but these are not all clichés.) The scene between the father and Felix at the dinner table, when Felix appears to have become a zealot, is good and dramatic. I think the relationship between Felix, his father and his brother is well-played, if understated. Also credible is the gradual realization by Felix that he was wrong about the Nazis. Maybe we should have seen more of the suffering of the oppressed minorities in fascist Romania. Maybe everything is just a touch too colorful or sweet. Who knows? This is Radu Gabrea's and Eginald Schlattner's story, and I really enjoyedit. I look forward to reading the novel. Let's hear it for a new wave of small-budget European films and the filmmakers who have learned to tell wonderful, slow stories that we want to watch.

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• Beautifully mediocre

  Mihnea_aka_Pitbull2008-03-28

  The movie's qualities are undeniable - three in number: Unfortunately, the script is very unprofessionally written, with a linear construction and a faulty structure. Also the directing, very amateurish, fails to create one single memorable scene - all the dramatic situations being common, predictable and childish. The actors are very poorly directed, so they play theatrically, demonstratively and with grandiloquent mannerisms - which is understandable, since Radu Gabrea is one of the so-called "middle aged dinosaurs" of Romanian cinema: the '70s generation, today deeply afflicted by obsoleteness. The saddest thing of all is that, although dealing with the traumatic events surrounding the tragedy of an ethnic minority in the dark years of World War 2, "The Beheaded Rooster" remains devoid of any emotion. Since the author is definitely a very sensitive and feeling artist, we are led to conclude that the failure is caused simply by his professional awkwardness - which is a great pity indeed.

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• A failed film on a fascinating piece of history

  dromasca2009-06-07

  The 800 years history of the German presence in Transylvania, its convulsed history during the 20th century and the almost total extinction of the community in the second half of the last century could be the subject and background for many fascinating stories and films. Unfortunately 'Der geköpfte Hahn' almost completely fails on all plans. The film is directed by Radu Gabrea, who as a young director in Communist Romania had an amazing first film in 1969 'Prea mic pentru un razboi atit de mare' (too young for such a great war) which precluded the theme of contrast between the innocence of childhood and the horrors of war. His career could not be continued at a sustained pace under the Communist regime, he made very few films, and this is the first that I am seeing for a long while. It is however a big disappointment. The history of the years 1940 to 1944 with the complex relations between the different communities coexisting in the city of Fagaras is described in a schematic manner, the characters are more stereotypes than real life people, they fail to move or to attract sympathy, and the story telling flows painfully with characters showing up from nowhere and disappearing without trace. I hope that some these amazing pieces in the history of Romania will have a better chance on screens in the future.

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• small history

  Kirpianuscus2017-04-27

  I do not know if it is a beautiful, great, good of bad film. it is only useful. for not ignore. for remember. for understand. and for define the past as puzzle of small groups. and, in this way, the history becomes more significant. short, the film is result of a happy meet between a special writer and a remarkable director. each giving the story of a painful episode from recent Romanian history. story of a family, about its friends and neighbors and about the clash of every day life with the politic. and the way to tell the story is more than inspired. because it is only a testimony. about choices, broken lives, fragility of certitudes, fall of a world. nothing more. and the observation about artistic or historical accuracy sins are covered by the invitation to reflection. about a time, few people and a small history who defines the great one.

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