"Requiem" is a German movie from 2006, so it has its 10th anniversary this year. It runs for approximately 90 minutes and was directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, one of Germany's most successful filmmakers in the last two decades. The writer is Bernd Lange and you can say that this is definitely a contender for his most known work. And "Requiem" is also the very first full feature performance for actress Sandra Hüller, who was in her late 20s at this point. Hüller recently made the headlines with "Toni Erdmann", in which she played the main character's daughter, and this film we have here, from a decade ago, is how it all began. It was a big breakthrough, just like for Diehl in "23" (another Schmid film), as she won a German Film Award for her portrayal and so did supporting actress Imogen Kogge (the mother). Supporting actor Burghart Klaußner (the father) was "only" nominated this time.
This movie is the story of a young woman who is living her life in awe of God (due to her education and upbringing) and things get really complicated if she is confronted with the modern (not God-fearing) life at all when she becomes a regular student, who aspires to become a teacher. What makes things even more complicated is the fact that her health is steadily getting worse and the people she trusts suspect that it has to do with her being somewhat possessed by the devil. The result is something that can almost be called a German version of "The Exorcist". We do not see that much of the ways they try to "cure" her, but we read it at the very end and also see one very memorable scene, in which Hüller goes all in with acting as possessed and evil as possible when her parents come to see her. The film certainly takes a dark turn in the second half and it was much darker than I expected. So I am a bit surprised that the film received so much awards recognition and that it did not go under the radar like for example "Kreuzweg" did, a film with a somewhat similar subject, at least in terms of the German Film Awards. And while I prefer the other film I just mentioned, I still think "Requiem" is worth checking out. A thumbs-up from me, but not one that is as enthusiastic as I hoped it would be.
This movie is the story of a young woman who is living her life in awe of God (due to her education and upbringing) and things get really complicated if she is confronted with the modern (not God-fearing) life at all when she becomes a regular student, who aspires to become a teacher. What makes things even more complicated is the fact that her health is steadily getting worse and the people she trusts suspect that it has to do with her being somewhat possessed by the devil. The result is something that can almost be called a German version of "The Exorcist". We do not see that much of the ways they try to "cure" her, but we read it at the very end and also see one very memorable scene, in which Hüller goes all in with acting as possessed and evil as possible when her parents come to see her. The film certainly takes a dark turn in the second half and it was much darker than I expected. So I am a bit surprised that the film received so much awards recognition and that it did not go under the radar like for example "Kreuzweg" did, a film with a somewhat similar subject, at least in terms of the German Film Awards. And while I prefer the other film I just mentioned, I still think "Requiem" is worth checking out. A thumbs-up from me, but not one that is as enthusiastic as I hoped it would be.