Director Fatih Akin breaks a compelling storyline into three chapters in the crime drama In the Fade.
Out of nowhere, Katja’s (Diane Kruger) life falls apart when her husband Nuri (Numan Acar) and little son Rocco are killed in a bomb attack. Her friends and family try to give her the support she needs. Katja somehow manages to make it through the funeral. But the mind-numbing search for the perpetrators and reasons behind the senseless killing complicate Katja’s painful mourning.
Lawyer Danilo (Denis Moschitto), who was Nuri’s best friend, represents Katja in the eventual trial against the suspects: a young couple from the neo-Nazi scene. The trial pushes Katja to the edge, but then there’s more.
Co-writer and director Fatih Akin is of Turkish background. His inspiration was a series of xenophobic murders committed by a German Neo-Nazi group. A scandal followed when the police focused their investigation on victims’ community.
Akin has woven a no-holds-barred narrative that continually has the ability to surprise and does so admirably.
My only criticism concerns the film’s confusing and insipid title, which I suggest you simply ignore. I still haven’t figured out what the hell it means and it’s doing my head in.
Regardless, you’re in for quite a ride with In the Fade; one well worth taking.
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Diane Kruger, Numan Acar, Denis Moschitto
Release Date: 8 March 2018 (limited)
Rating: MA 15+
Alex First
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David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
