Der freie Wille (2006)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Matthias Glasner

Writers:

Judith Angerbauer (writer)
Matthias Glasner (writer)

Release Date:

24 August 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A man is released from a mental institution after serving 9 years for multiple rape.

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Guilt | Masturbation | Sex | Sex Offender

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Jürgen Vogel	...	Theo
Sabine Timoteo	...	Nettie
André Hennicke	...	Sascha
Manfred Zapatka	...	Nettie's father
Judith Engel	...	Anja Schattschneider
Anna Brass	...	Raped woman in the dunes
Anne-Kathrin Golinsky	...	Seller in department store
Maya Bothe	...	Sybille
Frank Wickermann	...	Michael
Anna De Carlo	...	Waitress
Bernadette Büllmann	...	Singer of "Ave Maria"
Andreas Laurenz Maier	...	Marius (as Andreas L. Maier)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcel Batangtaris	...	Toni

Also Known As:

The Free Will (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:163 min (Berlin International Film Festival) | Argentina:163 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | France:-16 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Colonia Media

Mature subject matter, but flawed in its execution

I, too, saw this film at the Berlinale, and though the matter of rape was treated with maturity and frankness, the film itself was constructed poorly. More than anything, it was bland - camera placement and cuts were standard fare, non-diagetic sound was near non-existent, and the dialogue was highly unrealistic, comprising of long, drawn-out pauses interspersed with briefly-spoken lines.

The upshot of this was that I felt no attachment to the characters beyond a basic sympathy for their current predicaments - dialogue was stretched out to the point of losing its emotional resonance, and many lines were delivered with little feeling from the actors. I was particularly unconvinced by Sabine Timoteo's performance, whose talent restricted her to screaming rather than actual crying. Compared to Claire Dane's stunning depiction of anguish in Romeo and Juliet, I felt wholly unsatisfied by her performance.

It was these factors that made the characters feel less than human, failing to imbue them with life. This, coupled with the utterly bland direction and editing, meant that I felt no attachment to them, and I was left gagging for each coming line of dialogue purely to provide a break from the silent, expressionless moments in between. Drawing out the narrative to over two and a half hours simply rubbed salt in the wound.

The Free Will was not in itself awful, but there were so few points of interest that I found myself becoming restless within forty minutes, and when the credits rolled in what will doubtless be considered a brilliantly emotional finale, I still felt little attachment to the characters.