By Markus Tschiedert
At the top of the German cinema charts, “Black Adam” and “Rheingold” simply swapped places. Now the German gangster drama dominates, and the US superhero has to be satisfied with second place. This is followed unchanged by “The School of Magical Animals 2”. With more than two million viewers, it is now the most successful German film since the pandemic.
After “Black Adam”, another comic book adaptation “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will hit the big screen this week. The comedy “Mrs. Harris and a Dress by Dior” and the future horror “Crimes of the Future” are also vying for first place in the German cinema charts.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – superheroes without juice
THE STORY: After the death of T’Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), his kingdom comes into conflict with the neighboring state of Talocan. Wakanda’s new queen, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), must protect the precious metal vibranium, which brought technological progress to her country, from the attackers. Her daughter Shuri (Letitia Wright) proves to be a clever and brave comrade-in-arms.
THE STARS: Letitia Wright has previously played her role in Black Panther and both the Avengers films Infinity War and Endgame. Angela Bassett is best known for her role as Tina Turner in 1993’s ‘Tina: What’s Love Got to Do with It?’. The Berliner Florence Kasumba (“Tatort”) is now also very popular in Hollywood and plays the proud warrior Ayo here.
THE DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler made waves in the 2013 drama Next Stop: Fruitvale Station. He then directed the “Rocky” offshoot “Creed” and the first “Black Panther” spectacle.
BG RATING: What happens when the star of a superhero film dies unexpectedly and far too early? Chadwick Boseman († 43) is sorely missed as the ‘Black Panther’ in the sequel. Of course, someone else has to wear the black costume at the end. Until then, however, we experience an irrelevant story with an annoying oversupply of computer-animated action scenes. Marvel’s superheroes have been running out of juice for a long time (162 mins, age 12+).
“Crimes of the Future” – The organ donors of tomorrow
Léa Seydoux (l) as Caprice, Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser and Kristen Stewart as Timlin Photo: Nikos Nikolopoulos/Weltkino/dpa
THE STORY: In the near future, more and more people will suffer from ‘Accelerated Evolution Syndrome’. In the body of Saul Tender (Viggo Mortensen), for example, new organs keep growing. He capitalizes on this. He has his growths operated on in shows and is targeted by the authorities and an underground movement.
THE STARS: Viggo Mortensen had his breakthrough role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. He then avoided further heroic roles and starred in such diverse films as “The Road” and “Green Book”. Bond girl Léa Seydoux (“Spectre”) plays his assistant here, while Kirsten Stewart (“Twilight”) plays a government official.
THE DIRECTOR: Eight years after “Maps of the Stars” David Cronenberg presents a new movie. He has already dealt with human morphoses in “Videodrome”, “Die Fliege” and “eXistenZ”.
BG RATING: With “Crimes of the Future” Cronenberg can no longer build on his cult films of the past. Although he succeeds in creating a gloomy atmosphere, the moments of shock no longer have any effect. Today’s audience is simply too hardened for that, and the ‘disgusting design’ now seems much too cheap (108 min., free from the age of 16).
“Mrs. Harris and a Dior dress” – cleaning lady wants more glamour
Lesley Manville as Mrs. Harris adores Dior Photo: David Lukazs/Ada Films Ltd/dpa
THE STORY: In 1950s London, widow Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) keeps her head above water with cleaning jobs. But she saves her money in order to fulfill one wish at some point: a dress by Dior. Then the time has come. Ada has enough money to travel to Paris. But the doors of Dior remain closed to a woman of her class.
THE STARS: Lesley Manville has often worked with Mike Leigh (“Another Year”). The Brit celebrated other successes with films such as “Maleficient” and “The Silken Thread”. In Paris she meets Isabelle Huppert (“8 women”) as a strict Dior manager and Lambert Wilson (“Jacques”) as a well-heeled admirer.
THE DIRECTOR: Up to now, Anthony Fabian had distinguished himself with television films (“Harmony in Hanoi”). We released his first feature film, Skin-Cry for Justice, on DVD.
BG RATING: After Inge Meysel and Angela Lansbury, Lesley Manville is now slipping into the valuable Dior outfit. Set in a pretty 1950s setting, however, it has only become styleless feel-good cinema, which is also very old-fashioned. In the 1950s, women were still evicted from the room when men were negotiating (116 mins, free from 0).
The special film: “You won’t get my hate”
Antoine (Pierre Deladonchamps) and his son must endure the loss of their wife and mother, murdered by Islamists Photo: TOBIS Film GmbH/dpa
THE STORY: On the evening of November 13, 2015, Hélène (Camélia Jordana) meets friends again. Husband Antoine (Pierre Deladonchamps) stays in the Paris apartment with their young son. He learned about the Islamist terrorist attacks through television. His wife is also among the victims.
THE STARS: Pierre Deladonchamps won the French Oscar (César) in 2014 for “The Stranger by the Lake”. He was last seen on screen in “Eiffel in Love”. Camélia Jordana is a singer-songwriter-actress (“Fully Veiled”). She even starred in 2020’s Love Affairs.
THE DIRECTOR: Kilian Riedhof comes from Hesse. In 2012 he shot “His Last Race” in Berlin and helped his leading actor Dieter Hallervorden to make his cinema comeback. The political drama “The Barschel Case” followed in 2016.
BG RATING: “You won’t get my hate” – the real Antoine Leiris posted this sentence on Facebook in 2015 to express his pain without any desire for revenge. That impressed the whole world. Now an intimate and at the same time intense drama has emerged from his story. One is shocked, is touched and perceives the film as an honest confrontation with grief (103 min., free from the age of 12).
Cinema for kids: “The Legend of the Christmas Witch”
Witch Dolores (Monica Bellucci) Photo: Little Dream Pictures
THE STORY: In the 18th century, the orphan Paola (Zoe Massenti) survives as a master thief. This arouses the interest of the witch Dolores (Monica Bellucci). Dolores wants to lead the girl back to the path of virtue and teaches her witchcraft. But now the little girl steals with magic and thus also attracts a witch hunter.
THE STARS: Monica Bellucci was in front of the camera several times with ex-husband Vincent Cassel (“Doberman” “Pact of the Wolves”). In 2015, the Italian even became a Bond girl (“Spectre”). For Zoe Massenti it is the very first film appearance.
THE DIRECTOR: Paola Randi started her career with short films. She now shoots series (“Luna Nera”) and feature films (“Tito, the Professor and the Aliens”).
BG RATING: Children’s films with witches and wizards are still very popular. This Italian fantasy adventure also wants to compete with “Harry Potter”. It succeeds with an exciting and scary story, a pinch of humor and lots of special effects that never get the upper hand (116 min., free for children aged 6+).