Berlin

Berlin - 1st of May

Berlin - 1Mai (Germany)

By RUSSELL EDWARDS

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A Frisbee Films, Jetfilm production, in association with Teamworx, HR, Arte. (International sales: Jetfilm, Berlin.) Produced by Jon Handschin, Alexander Bickenbach, Tobias Bauckhage, Manuel Bickenbach. Co-producer, Christian Rohde. Directed by Carsten Ludwig, Jan-Christoph Glaser, Sven Taddicken, Jacob Ziemnicki. Screenplay, Ludwig, Michael Prohel, Oliver Ziegenbalg, Ziemnicki.
 
With: Jacob Matschenz, Ludwig Trepte, Cemal Subasi, Benjamin Hoppner, Peter Kurth, Oktay Ozedemir, Hussan Chahrour.
 

Anarchy is in the air, but the drama is a tad too schematic in the nevertheless engaging German 24-hour criss-crosser “Berlin -- 1st of May.” Low-budget, guerrilla-style effort centers on an annual festival that originated as a left-wing worker’s celebration, but has morphed from political protest to an excuse for mindless vandalism. Pic is ideal for Euro tube viewing and may garner some fest play. Local release is skedded for later this year, possibly May.

Film begins on the morning of May 1 with cuckolded cop Uwe (Benjamin Hoppner) leaving for work just as his wife comes home from a night on the town. En route to a posting in potential Berlin hot spot Kreuzberg, Uwe’s colleagues joke that there may be nothing better for him than to let off steam by cracking the heads of a few protesters.

Coming into Berlin from small German city Minden are excitement-seeking teens Pelle (Ludwig Trepte) and Jacob (Jacob Matschenz), who is armed with a video camera to capture the day’s events.

Third story focuses on 11-year-old Turkish boy Yavuz (pic’s strongest thesp, Cemal Subasi) looking for violent excitement, and he gets it when he runs into a drug dealer (Hussan Chahrour), then a drunken anarchist (Peter Kurth).

Pelle and Jacob run afoul of Yavuz’s older brother Nebi (Oktay Ozedemir) and his friends, one of many odd situations they innocently get themselves into. Meanwhile, cop Uwe, bored by the well-behaved crowds at his posting, decides to visit a brothel -- right when things suddenly get explosive.

Taking advantage of crowds that gather in Berlin each year for May Day, pic (helmed by Sven Taddicken, Jakob Ziemnicki and Carsten Ludwig and Jan-Christoph Glaser) was shot last year on the fly with three camera crews to follow the three major strands. Scenes not requiring obvious May Day action were shot at a later date. The fact that there are no jarring moments or conflicting directing styles, and perfs are consistent throughout, reps a major achievement.

However, even acknowledging this accomplishment, the end result tends to lag, particularly in the aimlessness of Jacob and Pelle, though their thread does build to a satisfying final twist.

HD lensing which aims for a docu feel, looks a little washed out on the bigscreen, but should be easier on the eye on TV. Sound quality is crisp throughout and well mixed.

Camera (color, HD), Daniela Knapp, Daniel Moller, Kolja Raschke, David Scultz; editor, Carsten Eder, Jan-Christoph Glaser; music, Christoph Blaser, Dirk Dresselhaus, Steffen Kahles; production designers, Petra Albert, Juliane Friedrich, Christian Sitta, Juliane Maier; sound, Carsten Arnolds, Alexander Heinze. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Perspektive Deutsches Kino), Jan. 8, 2008. Running time: 95 MIN.