I watched this movie a few years ago in a screening provided by our school for educational purposes. The topic itself isn't often depicted in German movies. That's why I was excited to see "Kriegerin". It even won the "German Film Award for Best Feature Film" so it had to be good - but it wasn't.
While it is indeed interesting to see the rare portrayal of a female neo-Nazi, and a girl who is getting involved with the right-wing extremist skinheads, "Kriegerin" fails at other aspects. As a German citizen and someone familiar with the right-wing extremist culture, I think it's only showing a clichéd picture composed of neo-Nazis with combat boots, lots of tattoos which say "14 words" or "88", and who are dumb and only seeking violence. It seems as though they are a rather barbaric people. Right-wing extremist skinheads –who behave most of the time as shown in the movie- are not the majority anymore among the neo-Nazis, in fact they're number is decreasing. Neo-Nazism still lives mainly because of two factors: 1. "Autonome Nationalisten (AN)", who make up the largest group of Nazis 2. Political parties such as "NPD", "Republikaner" and other influences in politics.
"Kriegerin" fails raising awareness of how someone gets sucked into the neo-Nazi scene and what the "common" Nazi is like today. It doesn't really matter whether the acting - especially of Alina Levshin- was good or if the approach of going with female main characters is brave and interesting – the main purpose should be educating the viewer about current racism and anti-Semitism in Germany. Unfortunately, the filmmakers didn't deliver at all. Search the web for "Autonome Nationalisten", and you get a vastly different picture about today's Nazis and their recruiting and propaganda strategies.
While it is indeed interesting to see the rare portrayal of a female neo-Nazi, and a girl who is getting involved with the right-wing extremist skinheads, "Kriegerin" fails at other aspects. As a German citizen and someone familiar with the right-wing extremist culture, I think it's only showing a clichéd picture composed of neo-Nazis with combat boots, lots of tattoos which say "14 words" or "88", and who are dumb and only seeking violence. It seems as though they are a rather barbaric people. Right-wing extremist skinheads –who behave most of the time as shown in the movie- are not the majority anymore among the neo-Nazis, in fact they're number is decreasing. Neo-Nazism still lives mainly because of two factors: 1. "Autonome Nationalisten (AN)", who make up the largest group of Nazis 2. Political parties such as "NPD", "Republikaner" and other influences in politics.
"Kriegerin" fails raising awareness of how someone gets sucked into the neo-Nazi scene and what the "common" Nazi is like today. It doesn't really matter whether the acting - especially of Alina Levshin- was good or if the approach of going with female main characters is brave and interesting – the main purpose should be educating the viewer about current racism and anti-Semitism in Germany. Unfortunately, the filmmakers didn't deliver at all. Search the web for "Autonome Nationalisten", and you get a vastly different picture about today's Nazis and their recruiting and propaganda strategies.