Je Suis Karl

The story slowly grows into a great pathos architected in a very smart way with feelings and weaknesses exploited in directions that are unexpected first and amazingly obvious in the aftermaths.

Drawing on the fears that are often attributed to immigrants, it could be easy to trigger an avalanche effect among the populations of western Europe (and maybe the western world in general) by using the new media in a poisonous way.

This movie is simply genius and does a great job in alerting possible escalations that make you think of how the same situations that brought to the second world war can be made possible today in a different sauce.

It seems difficult for so many to watch a movie these days simply to be entertained. I found the acting, story line and production to be top-notch. It's not a documentary folks. Just enjoy it!

Summary

Christian Schwochow's film is a disturbingly topical dystopia, an incursion into the renewed modes and operations of the new neo-fascist youth movements in Europe and which find their replicas in other parts of the world, such as the so-called "libertarians" of Argentina. For instance. A pan-European phenomenon with TED conventions and progressive clothes and manners that will reveal, with the excuse of insecurity, his white supremacist motivations against immigrants and his vocation for power. And that raises a question: how solid do our principles stand when we become victims?

Review

After suffering a family loss, Maxi, a young student (Luna Wedler) is seduced by Karl, a young far-right activist (Jannis Niewöhnner) and introduced into a European neo-fascist youth movement.

Maxi is seduced by the beautiful Karl (a Machiavellian Jannis Niewöhnner, in a character reminiscent of the protagonist of Hater) and invites her to meet Re / Generation, an organization for "change". To what extent will someone who is processing a grief allow themselves to be used? Will it follow the path of the protagonist of the film Hadewijch, by Dumont? What ideological changes can the condition of victim produce? Luna Wedler (the protagonist of the Biohackers series) deals with an ambiguity that makes her character very interesting. The opposite of her is Alex, her father (great performance by Milan Peschel), who has other ways of processing a duel that will distance them.

Beyond some script weaknesses, Christian Schwochow's film is a disturbing foray into the renewed modes and operations of the new neo-fascist youth movements in Europe. It should be noted that the phenomenon is not limited to the Old Continent, since it finds its replica in the so-called "libertarians" of Argentina, for example.

We are far from the world of proletarian neo-fascists sons of German reunification. It is now about organizations (in this case the fictitious Re / Generation; attention with its logo) to which middle class young people adhere, many of them students, who organize conventions with TED talks and new age airs, making intensive use of social networks and who spuriously seize slogans, topics and ways of the progressive left. The mask of false progressivism does not take long to fall and show its true face, its obsession and its fanaticism: a pan-European white supremacism whose target is immigrants and which agitates the issue of "insecurity" and "change"; It is a phenomenon that does not end in watertight nationalisms because "they - immigrants - are everywhere." The film, focused on young people, leaves out of the field the economic interests that move behind and that sustain these movements and groups, very organized and with a vocation for power, and who do not repair the means to achieve it.

Je suis Karl describes a real state of affairs and goes one step further, painting a disturbingly topical dystopia.

I rated this film 6/10 because of its sensitive and believable build up of how someone might be drawn into "the scene".

Radicalisation of any kind starts with either desperation or charm. The film builds this up slowly and sensitively, with a youth scene which is attractive and seemingly advocating a "new" right movement. This part was well handled and explained. The ending seemed glib, rushed and unbelievable. The actors were charismatic and deserve credit.

Very simple, out-of-the-box story. I think most people can figure it out in no more than 30 minutes. Me too. But then? In for a penny, in for a pound. I kept bingeing it and the the atmosphere got a bit tenser afterwards. With a simple story like this, it's really up to the director and the protagonist to prevent u from getting bored. They've done well. I would say they are above average.

Luna Wedler is a bit overact in certain emotional scenes. Yet, all in all, she is a bright actress and I love her performances in several films including this one.