Schläfer (2005)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Benjamin Heisenberg

Writer:

Benjamin Heisenberg (writer)

Release Date:

3 June 2005 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A story of rivalry and treachery set in a triangle of love, science and politics

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Bastian Trost	...	Johannes Mehrveldt
Mehdi Nebbou	...	Farid Atabay
Loretta Pflaum	...	Beate Werner
Gundi Ellert	...	Frau Wasser
Wolfgang Pregler	...	Professor Behringer
Charlotte Eschmann	...	Johannes' Grandmother
Ludwig Bang	...	Secret service agent
Masayuki Akiyoshi	...	Fei Li
Marco Schuler	...	Robert Königsbauer
Jürgen Geißendörfer	...	Markus
Dominik Dudy	...	LAN-student
Andrea Faciu	...	Singer
Gordana Stevic	...	Mrs. Stevic
Christine Böhm	...	Mrs. Schmid
Anke Euler	...	Animal Nurse

Also Known As:

Sleeper (International: English title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Austria | Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (16 mm version)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Lindau, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

juicy film

Quotes:

Frau Wasser: You were in his flat, weren't you? Did you notice he's got his windows taped shut? Did he tell you what he brought back from his last trip home? Did he tell you the other places...
Johannes Mehrveldt: I don't want to know any of this.
Frau Wasser: Because you're scared.
Johannes Mehrveldt: Nonsense.
Frau Wasser: I know. You want to do the right thing. You want to be one of the good guys. That's why I came to you. You've got integrity. Your motives are right. Mr. Merveldt, help us find out what Mr. Madani is really like. You only stand to win, and Mr. Madani will be lucky that you're doing it instead of someone else.
[...]

Soundtrack:

your tears in my venes

A story between the lines

"Schläfer" tells the story of the scientist Johannes Mehrveldt, and his Arabian colleague Farid Atabay.

The German "secret service" contacts Johannes to spy on Farid because they suspect him to be a sleeper (schläfer). After Johannes has fought with his doubts about this "job", he finally starts reporting about Farid, when he starts dating the girl that Johannes has a crush on.

"Schläfer" is a very typical German movie of 2006. Apart from the highly up to date "terrorist" background, it tells the story in quiet, discreet pictures (except from some party scene), which are very popular at German directors at present (in the beginning you have a 4 minute long steadicamscene without a cut). But it is definitely one of the better movies in this style (not just another Aki Kaurismäki or Jim Jarmush copy). The pictures are partly very fresh and unspent. The story itself is interesting because of its social-political background (we have a huge debate about integration...) but also because of the psychological relationship between the three characters (Power and envy).

"Schläfer" is a modern movie, with complex characters (Bastian Trost is really good) and a story that deals with an issue effecting us all, politically as well as socially. It looks really great, thanks to a solid cinematography-job by Reinhold Vorschneider and the talent of the director Benjamin Heisenberg. But for all that, the fascination that inspires the audience (like "city of god" or "paradise now" is missing. That makes it a 8/10