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“In the fade” by Fatih Akìn we are seen to observe contemporary neo-Nazi terrorism in Germany, making us experience the pathos of those dramatic moments on our skin
In the fade
The life of Katja (Diane Kruger) is suddenly turned upside down by the death of her husband Nuri and son Rocco, killed in the explosion of a bomb. Thanks to the support of friends and family, Katja manages to face the funeral and move on. But the obsessive search for the killers and the reasons for those senseless deaths haunts her, reopening wounds and raising doubts. Danilo, Nuri’s lawyer and best friend, represents Katja in the final trial against the two suspects: a young couple belonging to a neo-Nazi organization. The trial is a very hard experience for Katja, who however does not give up, wants justice.
The crimes of the kebab
The film will lead us to relive with dynamic violence that we thought were long gone, vanished with the Second World War and with the consequent victory of the Allies; belief, unfortunately, destined to crumble. Akın’s work is inspired by real facts which in 7 years led to the death of about 10 people, killed only and exclusively for their origins, something abominable and disgusting just to think about it. From 2000 to 2007, in fact, Germany saw a series of neo-Nazi attacks, nicknamed “kebab crimes” for the places where this bestiality took place.
This was a cause of great scandal not only for the acts themselves, but also because a particular condescension appeared to them from the Teutonic secret services. With the defeat of Adolf Hitler, in fact, his former party was filled by 007 locals, thus allowing incredible control of the Nazi movements, while losing, at the same time, great room for maneuver. According to many analysts, the untimely interventions were due precisely to the fear of “blowing up the bank”, creating the conditions for them to occur constantly over the years; no coincidence that the last murder of the group will be against a policewoman, Michele Kiesewetter, whose service weapon will be found in 2011 in the den of monsters, in Thuringia.
Living the terrorism
In light of this, Akın’s film acquires greater interest as it will allow us to fully understand how these events change the life of each of us, forever altering their path. From the moment of the attack, in fact, Katja’s life will change radically, leading her to confront reality and episodes that she would never have thought of and forcing her to observe the “banality of evil“, this time in a contemporary form.
[Da qui possibili spoiler] During the trial we will witness the banality and tranquility with which the accused and lawyer will manage the tragedy, in the worst case almost annoyed by the time that the victim is making him lose. Haberbeck, the defense attorney, will show us in particular the cynicism of his role, which will allow him to become impassive from reality, concentrating only and exclusively on his task: to win, it doesn’t matter if his clients are clearly guilty of having killed in blood cold a father and his baby. But what will deeply disgust every lover of justice will be the verdict: “innocent”, something that will definitely destroy Katja’s existence, already put to the test for what she had suffered.
“In the fade” is a particular film, in many ways strange and at times apathetic, but which will allow us to observe Germany and its problems, archiving, at least for a while, the idea of a just and perfect country; too many the shortcomings suffered by the second generation citizens and too heavy the legacy of the Führer to pretend that everything has “disappeared” (a speech that would have to be done strictly for Italy and the nostalgics of fascism).
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