Kamikaze 1989

1989, to be precise. As imagined by Germans in 1982. Germany has become the world's foremost economic superpower, suicide is a thing of the past, and everyone does drugs, except there are no nasty side effects anymore. An overweight Rainer Werner Fassbinder mostly scowls his way through a quest to find out who's behind a series of murders that may be linked to a new resistance group. Or something like that. The plot seems secondary to the outrageous costumes (Fassbinder wears leopard tights throughout the whole film) and scenarios (like a police discotheque where you can shoot on firing ranges). It's an ugly film, and a stupid one, too, but it is perversely fascinating, and worth watching once, if only to impress your friends.

What kind of movie is 'Kamikaze 89'? Science fiction? Dystopia? It is definitely a special film from many points of view. The film is directed by Wolf Gremm (who is also a co-screenwriter), one of the well-known directors of the 'new German cinema' of the 1970s, author of films about inter-war Germany and of thrillers, all of them politically charged. The most important cinematographic personality that appears on the movie poster is however in this case not the director, but the actor who plays the main role. Rainer Werner Fassbinder was one of the leading figures in German cinema of that period. 'Kamikaze 89' was his last appearance on the screen, he died in June 1982, shortly after filming was completed.

The story takes place in 1989, 1989 as anticipated in 1982, in a future and totalitarian Germany. Fassbinder plays in this film the role of police lieutenant Janssen, called to investigate a suspected bombing, followed by a crime in the corporate headquarters that controls the morale of the population through television entertainment. His mission to solve the crime in the next four days is hampered by the fact that in the utopian society described in the film, officially, there are neither crimes nor suicides. The world of 'Kamikaze 89' is a rosy dystopia, in which the population is kept under control by Big Brother surveillance while the brains are washed and occupied by television shows such as the 'World Laughter Record'. The cynical, alcoholic and disillusioned Janssen may be the right man to solve this case, but as the circle of suspects gets closer to the company's bosses and that mysterious, secret '31st floor' in which the scenarios of future are written, the solving of the crime becomes a danger for the stability of the system.

The comparison between the future imagined in the literature and the films of anticipation and the reality of the anticipated period is, as always, fascinating. Although the interval is only seven years, the essential changes are those that take place in the social structure. Director Wolf Gremm did not have a budget that would allow him to create spectacular special effects, so he relied more on cultural extrapolations, some subtle, some less subtle. The Internet does not exist yet, and computers are as large as refrigerators and do not have graphical interfaces. Telephony and mobile videophones are controlled by the authorities. The population is fascinated by popular entertainment, and on this topic Gremm was able to correctly anticipate the devastating effect of 'reality show' genre, even if the phenomenon he described will occur one or two decades later than 1989. Electronic music and psychedelic clothing have become an aesthetic norm, and if we look at some societies in Asia today, we see that cultural conformism is not necessarily gray and militarized there. Leopard coats or jackets are police uniforms. The control of populations is facilitated by their addiction to escapist entertainment. The framing of the film in the patterns of the genre of punk anticipation is formally correct, but the stylistic decisions are motivated by a clear and not at all optimistic vision about the future.

Fassbinder's acting reminded me Orson Welles in the second part of his career. The director who gave the world in his youth the masterpiece 'Citizen Kane' constantly projected for grand plans, but after a few financial failures Hollywood no longer believed in him as a director. The result was that he appeared more as an actor, some of his roles were memorable as he succeeded to be both expressive and 'to melt' in his characters, modeling them according to his personality.

'Kamikaze 89' anticipates from many points of view the world 30 years later, with the domination of the big global corporations and the popular entertainment and communications as means of leveling the thinking of the population. 1989 however brought something else, the fall of the Iron Curtain followed by the reunification of Germany, historical events that Fassbinder prepared and anticipated artistically and ideologically in other films. Those were the milestones in the evolution towards the world of 'Kamikaze 89'.

A movie worth seeing for none other that three main reasons: The absurdist exercise in retrofuturism. The drunkenly charming performance of Fassbinder. The colorful anarchism of a production design that rewrites all the rules of what was then known as cyberpunk. The movie with his unbridled and convoluted plot owes way more to William Burroughs than William Gibson. The satire, in this unique cinematographic experience is more a direction chosen by director Wolf Gremm, than a clearly defined series of remarks that one can extract or decipher in the script. It is certainly witty and doesn't take itself seriously but you will hardly find any classically intended humour in the short and surreal lines of the actors. However this is the true strength of the movie and what allows it, to stand the test of time.

This film comes across as a very ambitious project. It features Rainer Werner Fassbinder (only acting, he has no creative role in the project beyond that as far as I can tell) in the lead. It has appearances by Franco Nero and Brigitte Mira. Co starring is early Fassbinder regular Gunther Kaufman. The point is, the cast is pretty damn good.

The soundtrack is entirely original and is penned by Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream. I am assuming that was not cheap for the producers to arrange.

With a good cast, good soundtrack, you have what appears to be a good futuristic sci fi script. An antihero cop and his partner are called in to organize an evacuation of the building for the most important corporation in the country (or world, was a little fuzzy of how far it reached). The bomb threat turns out to be a hoax, then things get twisted and confusing. I'd describe the story has having half devils battling half angels except you can't tell if they are fighting themselves or there really is a certain opposition. The film ends with major events not appearing on film. In fact, the film feels like it's missing most of the third act before coming to an abrupt conclusion. You sort of have closure during the very end but the exposition is coming from a news broadcast. It could have been thrown on in post production just to save the project and get it rushed to release in time to still cash in on the international success of Blade runner (both are futuristic sci fi stories but Blade Runner debuted a month before this), or perhaps to capitalize on the untimely death of Fassbinder who died unexpectedly 6 weeks before this film was released.

Regardless of the reasons, you get what might have been a complex story, well acted and brought to life via an interesting plot and without the need for cheap special effects. Alas, you get the pretense of a good story and are stuck trying to piece together the events in the second and third acts. It's a chore.

I've watched this several times. I, like most I imagine, was drawn to this movie if only to see the type of film project Fassbinder would simply act in without much more creative input. The film looked like it was trying to follow the same approach of Fassbinder sci fi experiments like World on a Wire. Maybe if Kamikaze '89 were almost three and a half hours long to explain what the heck is happening like World On A Wire is then perhaps things would be different. Instead, good luck with the 106 minutes you get.

A futurism crime thriller was a different venue for Fassbinder, whose stature had grown lately with films in historical settings. Though he didn't direct "Kamikaze," it was helmed by fellow New German filmmaker Gremm & has the moody complexity for which both directors are known, as well as more action. In the near future, West Germany's economy (remember, the fall of Communism was yet unforeseen) has become the world's largest. Virtually all broadcast & print media are controlled by a single, family-run corporation whose head (Gober) styles himself "The Blue Panther" & carefully crafts an elaborate personality cult, including a line of action comics. You still have a lot to learn, Rupert Murdoch. A terrorism campaign against the company by a nebulous entity called "Krysmopompas" (more impressive than "Osama," more intelligent than "Carlos the Jackal") brings on a police investigation headed by the force's most famous detective, Jansen (Fassbinder), who's never failed to solve a case. Clues indicate that someone well-placed in the corporation is responsible, but Jansen soon learns that the company itself is trying desperately to keep secrets. Is Krysmopompas really just an element of the Blue Panther personality cult? The story from Swedish writer Wahloo's novel "Murder on the 31st Floor" is frighteningly accurate in some of its visions, including the rise of cheap, inane reality TV (the marathon laughing contest is a classic) & the creation of euphemistic, self-serving police propaganda machinery (there's no such thing as murder or suicide anymore, only "accidental death"). The props are gleefully, stylishly cheap & cheesy, including Jansen's pajamalike leopard outfit, which might be some sort of uniform (remember Sylvia Anderson's purple wigs in "UFO?"), the burly assassins in black lingerie, the 3-wheeler choppers of the police & the Superman executive phone. However, they're no more outlandish than those of the wildly popular "Mad Max" films (Tina Turner in chain mail, oh, my!). Fassbinder does a remarkable job of projecting an air of old-fashioned, authoritative competence from Jansen through the futuristic absurdity, in contrast to the bland, painted-smile routine of the other cops & the worried urgings of his dying chief (Marquis). His relationship with his temperamental, long-suffering sidekick Anton (Kaufmann, Fassbinder's frequent collaborator & longtime companion) adds a complex human touch to the film. The brilliant Jansen is curtly condescending & critical ("Don't use unnecessary words, MK1 Anton") while the energetic Anton is alternately effusive & sullen. The portrayals of the media executives & personalities are delightfully bizarre & over-the-top, but probably less enjoyable if you don't understand German. The futurism venue was probably a good one for Fassbinder & Gremm (the latter's copious work remains almost unknown in the US) to venture out of the art-house domain of New German Cinema while keeping much of the technique that they had developed. Despite its similarity to "Soylent Green," "Kamikaze" is far less literal & direct but stylish beyond the point of parody. Hardly the most important work of the New Germans, "Kamikaze" is a valuable film in the near-future genre that died out in the 1980s but is about due for a revisit.