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"Die gläserne Zelle" or "The Glass Cell" is a West German movie from 1978, so this one will have its 40th anniversary next year. The director and one of the writers is Hans W. Geissendörfer and as his film here was nominated for an Oscar, these 90 minutes are perhaps his biggest success. Even in the 1970s, there were still many films that dealt with German history, especially those that received awards attention, but this one here not really. It is more a story and tale about the individual characters. The one in the center is Phillip Braun, an innocent man who ended up in prison and who also struggles with the (potential) infidelity of his wife. So you could indeed really say that he is a victim of society and of his peers. How are things going to turn out eventually? Will there be an outbreak of emotions, quiet suffering? Perhaps even death. You need to watch for yourself to find out. Still despite the inclusion of actors like Griem, Laser, Kohut, Wicki and Fossey, all of them pretty prolific and successful, I would not really recommend the watch. I felt that at times the narrative was not really convincing and also that the bleakness was executed in a way where it missed out in terms of excitement and solid character development. The performances weren't all bad, not bad at all really, but they can also only be as good as the script lets them. I for once can only say I am surprised that this one got nominated for an Oscar (where it lost to a French film starring Depardieu) and also was fairly successful at other awards ceremonies like the German Film Awards. When it comes to (partially) German films with glass in the title from the 1970s, "The Man in the Glass Booth" is still the way to go. That one I highly recommend, this one here not so much. Watch something else instead.
score 4/10
Horst_In_Translation 9 June 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3726924/ |
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19-2-2021 04:59:02