Messer im Kopf (1978)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Reinhard Hauff

Writers:

Reinhard Hauff (writer)
Peter Schneider (writer)

Release Date:

5 February 1981 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

One night when seeking his estranged wife, Hoffmann goes to the youth center where she works. The police...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Trauma | Youth Center | Hospital | Knife

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bruno Ganz	...	Berthold Hoffmann
Angela Winkler	...	Ann Hoffmann
Hans Christian Blech	...	Anleitner
Heinz Hoenig	...	Volker
Hans Brenner	...	Scholz
Udo Samel	...	Schurig
Eike Gallwitz	...	Dr. Groeske
Carla Egerer	...	Schwester Angelika
Gabriele Dossi	...	Schwester Emilie
Hans Fuchs	...	Chefarzt
Gert Burkard	...	Institutsdirektor
Erich Kleiber	...	Pfortner
Karl-Heinz Merz	...	Patient (as Karl Heinz Merz)
Ursel Lessoing	...	Frau Schurig
Heinz Hürländer	...	Kommissar (as Heinz Hurlander)

Also Known As:

Knife in the Head

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Bioskop Film

Quotes:

[first lines]
[English subtitles: voiceover as Hoffmann looks out his office window]
Hoffmann: An American in my case would start shooting out the window.

A good portrayal of a moment in time?

According to reports at the time, the Federal Republic of Germany (or "West Germany," as it was known then,) became somewhat of a police state in the mid-70's.

The embarrassing, massive blunder of the Munich '72 Olympics segued into the Baader-Meinhoff, and at some point the German government started using police tactics that had more to do with Orwellian practices than civil rights. This movie reflects that, and it does so while showing the arduous process experienced by its protagonist (admirably played by Bruno Ganz,) who must literally rewire his brain after the forces of the State almost kill him by mistake and then try to blame him in order to cover things up.

There must have been a measure of freedom left in W. Germany for this movie to have come out somehow. Is Ganz's recovery (from vegetable back to human being after having had his memory wiped out) an allegory of Germany itself (from Nazism to freedom and back to a police state again)? Go figure. All I know is that is movie left an indelible impression in my mind, which is saying a lot in an era when German cinematography was coming up with a gem every other month.

Seek it out.