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Thursday, September 14, 2017

IM LABYRINTH DES SCHWEIGENS / LABYRINTH OF LIES (2014)

Out a year before THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER/’15, and telling much the same story of Germans in the late '50s finally starting to prosecute their own Nazi war criminals living just down the street as butcher, baker or friendly neighbor, LIES takes in a wider angle and a younger generation's POV. It’s certainly the more polished work, though perhaps not for the better, with writer/director Giulio Ricciarelli (his first & only film) showing a technique slick enough for a Stateside film school. But does this story want that approach? Opening with a meet-cute for our young prosecutor & his future fiancée? Charting their up & down relationship as mirror to success & frustration at the monumental task he’s been given by boss Fritz Bauer? And if the later film sports an academic dryness that curbs its potential, better that than this film’s manipulated story beats & prosecutorial gym-sculpted abs. (Bauer’s dangerous illegal steps into international espionage also go missing.) Even over-processed, there’s enough emotional power to the issues so that you are pulled along. (An early scene with fellow workers coming up blank on Auschwitz is plenty chilling.) And there are unusually fine supporting players back at the office on both sides of the controversy: Prosecute or Move-On. But perhaps inevitably, following the formula of legal underdog bio-pic cheapens this touchiest of subjects.

DOUBLE-BILL: You rarely get a chance to see two films tackle the same topic at the same time in such a different manner. And with each seriously flawed, it’s less contest of quality than chance to spot the right style. Advantage: THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER. (Write-Up below.)

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