Anticorps

"Antikörper" is a tremendously entertaining, gripping and chilling serial killer movie directed by relative newcomer Christian Alvart. From the superb, edge-of-the-seat introduction and the inventive use of credits, the film is imaginative, brave and unpredictable.

While there are shades of "Silence of the Lambs" in this film (interestingly, there's even a throw-away comment about Hannibal Lecter as if the director was aware of the similarities in storyline and decided to confront this matter head-on), "Antikörper" is a much more realistic, character-driven piece. André Hennicke is genuinely frightening as the paedophile serial killer, Engel, who embarks on psychological mind games with the likable, country-based policeman, Wotan Wilke Möhring. Möhring's portrayal of a man who is driven to the edge of his wits is brilliant stuff and riveting viewing.

The film is undoubtedly a roller-coaster ride of emotions. There are some uncomfortable scenes (Engel makes Lecter look like Father Christmas in comparison) but they rely on the viewer's imagination rather than in-your-face gore. There are also some brief but realistic sex scenes that drive the plot along rather than serve as mere titillation. The film's strength is in its intelligence. This is not your average serial killer movie by a long way. It raises interesting moral questions such as "Just how good is a 'good man?'" I was surprised to see Norman Reedus appear in a small role in this film. Why Reedus was brought in for such a small part is puzzling but it was good to see this distinctive American actor nonetheless.

A highly recommended movie and one I'm glad to have stumbled across by accident. This is one of those film you may never have heard of but which you'll be very glad you watched.

This movie grabs you from the beginning as something that is original and daring. It is not just another police/serial killer drama, but one that is well worth watching despite the fact that it is in German.

With haunting music by Michl Britsch, songs by Nadeshda Brennicke, and brilliant cinematography by Hagen Bogdanski (how can you not be brilliant when filming in Germany, one of the most beautiful countries on Earth?), you will quickly forget the language barrier and enjoy.

The acting in this film is among the finest I have seen.

You will see things during the police interrogation that you have never seen before.

The intricate cat and mouse between the rural policeman and the rapist/serial killer is captivating. The line between good and evil is thoroughly analyzed and tested to the point where you are not sure of it's location.

The last twenty minutes...what a treasure to watch!

Only the second film by the former editor of the legendary German movie fanzine X-TRO, Antibodies (aka: Antikörper) is an assured and suspenseful work which, while it willingly acknowledges its obvious indebtedness to Hollywood models, still manages to strikes out convincingly on its own. The most obvious inspiration behind Christian Alvart's film is The Silence Of The Lambs (1991), to which explicit and grimly affectionate allusion ("What did you expect? Hannibal Lecter?") is made by killer Gabriel Engel (André Hennicke) at one point early on during his captivity. Restrained in conditions which recall those featuring in Jonathan Demme's movie, visited too by a similarly awed and repelled police investigator, Engel actually gives a performance less self-conscious than the much-imitated Anthony Hopkins'. And, because of the latitude of German cinema, where the precise detailing of paedophilic lust rape is more permissible as a drama demands, it is all the more disturbing in the telling. Watching this film, where the principal and community are wracked equally with guilt and blame, one easily recalls that this is the national cinema which earlier produced another monstrous child murderer, that of Fritz Lang's M, and indeed is a country where communal guilt is never very far below the surface.

Just as Clarice Starling needs her Lecter, so Schmizt needs his Engel to help solve a case. Having already killed 14, most of whom were young boys, Engel offers his own tantalising clues and hints as to where the other killer may be found. But, as he says, "Evil... is infectious," and soon Schmizt begins to question his own moral certainties, before ultimately basing his judgement on the only firm foundation he knows - the Old Testament, a process which involves a particularly painful scene of self mutilation by way of penance, as well as providing doctrinal justification for the suspenseful final scenes.

Antibodies is a film which never slackens its tension, and which avoids completely the flabby sentimentalising or overcooked heroics which often mars the American thriller product. Silence Of The Lambs contained more certainties than we are provided with here. Even though it gave its audience an extreme form of serial killer, in the form of 'Buffalo Bill', one both flamboyant and rock inspired, it instantly made a stereotype of itself, and it was this 'respect' of sorts by the audience that the director has said he was keen to avoid. Like Silence Of The Lambs, Se7en and the rest of their bloodline, Antibodies parades a notable killer's lair of its own as well, although any artefacts on show are less disturbing than the ultimate meaning of the 14 red squares drawn by Engel on the wall, or the spare, clean white tiles of his torture room.

At the centre of such films is inevitably a duel between killer and cop, and here the two main parts receive terrific performances, Hennicke mightily disturbing as the gloating and manipulative serial killer, writing his books of blood, and Reedus drawn and haunted as the cop on the edge. As is often the case in this sort of film, a troubled parallel is drawn between them, a process highlighted in the first instance by a change in Reedus' lovemaking, as one whose psyche is increasingly affected by the killer's manipulative mind games. And when the depressed cop buys a suit on impulse, from a shop woman with whom he later sleeps in aggressive fashion, we are reminded of how moral codes can be put and 'worn' almost as one would clothes, until one "can't tell where the suit ends and the man begins." But by the same mark are never the less separate, and can be peeled back to reveal the real creature underneath, or changed at will.

The signs that accompany the disturbed personality are more than just at that mundane level however. We are reminded in this film of the "'Holy Trinity' of serial killers: playing with fire, tormenting animals and bed-wetting" - some signs of which the tortured cop discovers, with growing alarm, occurring within his own family. As mentioned above, a strong religious thread runs through the film, of which this is only another aspect. Schmizt's family are devoted church-going folk, bible quotations play an especial significance and at one point the cop seeks to make his confession. But God's benign influence is ultimately conspicuous by its absence rather than influence, the final resolution less due to any supernatural grace than human doubt. In fact, in interview, director Alvart has expressed his serial killer in terms of the criminal representing 'total doubt', whilst drawing a parallel between religious fanaticism and the extremes of criminal behaviour, each with their respective compulsions.

In short, Antibodies is well worth seeking out, as a serial killer film that's both thought provoking and reasonably gripping - and can also be taken as a possible antidote to Hannibal Rising. Alvart is clearly a talent to watch (his previous, and first film, Curiosity And The Cat (1999) was a little seen - at least in the UK - but well thought of suspense flick, that also featuring corroding suspicion and sadomasochistic overtones). One hopes to see more of his work.

The great thing about this movie is that it is not a true horror film. The director said in the Q&A after the movie that he didn't want his killer to be respected, like Hannibal, who he says "looks like the cool guy in the movie". He says that since he is locked up the whole time the audience can be sure that there will be no more murders and so most of the movie is talking and trying to create closure. The movie is very much a focus on the minds of normal people versus what happens to the make a normal person turn into a serial killer. Alvart did a lot of research for the movie on serial killers, Catholocism (spending months working in a church), and being a father, there is a lot on parent-child relationships. There are so many levels that are covered in this movie and that is why it is so engrossing and watchable. It is a totally intellectual film that makes you think about social issues as well as completely scaring and creeping you out. The ending was so amazing. It is the best thriller I have ever seen and no one would ever think that Alvart was the most skeptical of this script ever being produced.Alvart said this film is the most personal out of the many scripts he proposed to producers.

I watched the DVD last night and thought it to be one of the best movies I've seen this year. The acting from the leads was excellent - never overdone and highly believable. The opening sequence gripped me and from thereon in I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The story develops at a great pace with some lovely twists and red herrings. Yes - some may see them coming but even so, it doesn't detract from a hugely enjoyable and often disturbing story. The direction and cinematography was also were superb - some great camera work and use of (sometimes washed out and grainy) colour and slow-motion. Highly recommended viewing before the inevitable Hollywood treatment. (CGI deer - ouch - 'nuff said!)