The Fourth State (2012)

A journalist gets caught up in a terrorist plot in Moscow while investigating the Russian secret service.

Director:

Dennis Gansel

Writers:

Dennis Gansel, Florian Schumacher (additional writer)

Stars:

Moritz Bleibtreu, Kasia Smutniak, Max Riemelt

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Paul Jensen
Kasia Smutniak	...	Katja
Max Riemelt	...	Dima
Rade Serbedzija	...	Onjegin
Yevgeni Sitokhin	...	Nevsky (as Yevgenij Sitochin)
Mark Ivanir	...	Aslan
Dragos Bucur	...	Shamil
Joan Pascu	...	Lukovitsch
Michael Bornhütter	...	Secret Service Agent
Ivan Vrgoc	...	Chauffeur Sergej
Stipe Erceg	...	Vladimir
Reiner Schöne	...	Sokolow
Merab Ninidze	...	Sagalayev
Marco Ammer	...	Waiter Peyo
Masha Tokareva	...	Nadja

Storyline

A journalist gets caught up in a terrorist plot in Moscow while investigating the Russian secret service.

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Plot Keywords:

three word title | 

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Taglines:

The truth is out . . . The clock is ticking.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

First collaboration of director Dennis Gansel and cinematographer Daniel Gottschalk with their second being Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) which was made and released around four years later.

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Quotes

Paul Jensen: It's cold...
Dima: It's Russia, man!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits appear as carvings made by Aslan and his comrades on the prison walls.

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Soundtracks

The Big Ride
Words and music by Micheal Jean-Pierre Dippon
Performed by Mike MD vs Miq Puenies
Courtensy of MD Musicproduction

User Reviews

Conspiracy thriller

I try to avoid reading or watching anything about the movies I'm going to watch, as was the case with this movie here. That's why I guess I expected something different only knowing the title. The movie came to be a neat little conspiracy thriller, based a bit on experiences the filmmaker himself had when he visited Russia. He does mention this in the Audio Commentary which can be found on the German release of the movie (which was shot in English).

Moritz Bleibtreu, a very well known and accomplished actor in Germany, does a decent job, playing an everyman (his character being a journalist). The story moves along fine, but it should have tried to stay focused on its main theme. As it is the usual downfalls (coincidences and convenient momentum) do not help the movie, but it still is a nice little entry into the conspiracy movie "genre".

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

8 March 2012 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Fourth State

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$930,120

Company Credits

Production Co:

SevenPictures Film, UFA Fiction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1