What To Do In Case Of Fire (2001)
Directed by Gregor Schitzler
Columbia Pictures (USA)
The opening scene of “What To Do In Case of Fire” unfolds somewhat like how the Sex Pistols documentary “The Filth and the Fury” introduced itself, with riots and violent demonstrations taking place in the streets, only the locale is Berlin in 1987 rather than London in 1977. This sequence in the Gregor Schnitzer-directed 2001 film shows anarchist punk rockers revolting against the imperialist atmosphere pervading Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall, when the poor were being evicted from their homes in favor of the advantages the rich stood to gain from more expensive housing.
Hurling projectiles at cops in full riot gear, tipping over buses, urinating from balconies and waving flags bearing the anarchy symbol to the soundtrack of a horn-laden ska-punk tune is our first impression of our anti-heroes who bring their opposition to the government’s “eviction plans” out in the open and we’re acquainted with them on a first name basis (Tim, Hotte, Maik, Nele, Terror and Flo). As if we have been watching a home movie they made themselves, the scenery cuts to these six young radicals, a “political film club” called Group 36. Parodying society’s perception of them as jobless druggies and violent hoodlums, they describe the method they used to build a bomb they later planted into an abandoned building the government planned to renovate for the rich, that never went off. This was back in 1987.
We fast-forward 13 years to 2000 and a reunified Germany, long after Group 36 went their separate ways. Four of them have become successful yuppies, far from their days as a “political film club” who videotaped their subversive activities to show posterity they “stood up to the pigs,” in the words of Tim (Til Schweiger). Tim still lives in the grimy Machnow Street tenement apartment they all lived in back in ‘97, refusing to move despite numerous attempts to evict them so the building could be torn down for more expensive housing. Hotte (Martin Felfel), the only other remaining member of Group 36, has been confined to a wheelchair since he was run over by a car during a demonstration.
When the explosive of 13 years earlier is set off by accident and the police undertake a massive hunt for evidence that took them all over Machnow Street, Tim and Hotte are forced to track down their old friends. When they do we learn that Maik (Sebastian Blomberg) is now an advertising executive, Terror (Matthias Matschke) a lawyer and Nele (Madja Uhl), a single parent. At first none of them want anything to do with the past; so they’re leaving for Poland when unexpectedly they’re reunited with Flo (Doris Schretzmayer), who was Tim’s girlfriend in the old days, before she became a government official. Naturally averse to receiving prison sentences, the reunited Group 36 devise a plan to destroy the taped evidence the police seized in the raid on Tim and Holle’s Machnow Street apartment, which shows them constructing the explosive.
Though we first see these six as violent radicals, “Fire” makes us care about what happens to them and eventually root for them, which doesn’t come as a surprise when we meet their nemesis. The earliest scenes establish this as a conflict between Group 36 and Manowsky (Klaus Lowitch), the hardened cop who takes the liberty of placing himself in charge of the operation to find the hooligans responsible for the bombing. As the film unfolds, we start to see each side of the conflict from another perspective. Looking past the exterior we see the humanity beneath the nihilism.
This character development on the part of the anarchists is especially evident in the relationship between Tim and Flo, not to mention the bravery Holle displays in the plan to infiltrate police headquarters to intercept the confiscated film. For Manowsky’s part, we eventually see his obsession with catching the bad guys merge with a kind of reveling when the last confrontation between the sheriff and the outlaws happen, as he seems to take pleasure in telling Tim he and his crew are “the last of the anarchist Mohicans.” Manowsky couldn’t give a damn what happens to the erstwhile punks, as long as he gains from the government’s reforms. Which makes us want the anarchists to win all the more.
After all, no one killed when the bomb went off in the first place; as another journalist who saw this movie observed, the kids we see in the beginning are too directionless to be any threat to the status quo. This is obvious when you see that nothing much changed in Germany during those 13 years. Tim and his gang are not hateful, murder-minded people who thrive on fear and intimidation but people who don’t want to be driven from their homes. - Dave Wolff
***HERE'S ANOTHER THAT WASN'T IN THE ZINE***
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Directed by Justin Lin
Paramount/MTV Films (USA)
Ben (Parry Shen, "The New Guy") reflects on the first time he saw a dead body as if recalling having been dropped by his girlfriend or kicked out of school in the pre-flashback sequence opening "Better Luck Tomorrow." If it sounds like an odd comparison, Justin Lin's direction allows it to make more sense, bridging a gap between daily life in high school and nightly life on the city streets, a gap most people consider an unfathomable abyss. Think of it as an anti-"Thirteen" that shows ordinary high school kids coming of age through two opposing lenses; one brighter, another darker.
Lin's chosen location in "Tomorrow" is a typical suburban high school in California, where you'd expect a traditional comedy to happen. This makes his story of academically successful Asian American students who become embroiled in shadier business to get respect seem much more realistic, bringing it closer to middle and upper America than what we are accustomed to. Lin did something right because "Tomorrow" received the Visionary Award from the 2002 San Diego Asian Film Festival and was nominated for the John Cassavettes Award at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards.
What's ironic is that MTV films co-licensed "Tomorrow" with Cherry Sky Films, so presumably this movie has strong backing even though it was only released at a few inidie festtivals instead of on a nationwide basis. The press seems to have appreciated it more than it does a lot of the new movies established Hollywood stars are featured in. "Election" was also handled by MTV, and we all know how it contributed to the explosion in popularity Reese Witherspoon had a few years later when she became one of Hollywood's "big ones." Perhaps the same will happen for this film; certainly it should give independent films more credibility in the face of the larger-than-larger-than-life route Hollywood is taking.
The dead body Ben sees is buried in a backyard where he and his best friend Virgil (Jason J. Tobin) are lounging. This scene is meant to establish the affluence of his suburban neighborhood; but Lin chooses not to disclose the dead person's identity just yet. It's for the flashbacked story to describe events leading to the discovery. The events involve Ben's interior struggle to assimilate changes in his life as he's forced to weigh two different roads to success against each other. As Ben's academic pursuits steadily come to fruition, he and his circle of friends choose to travel a road to the American Dream that starts with cheat sheets and escalates with violence, robbery and eventually murder.
The two students Ben crosses paths with as he tries to match his sholastic success with a career in sports, are the catalysts for a sudden split in two directions, and he finds himself walking a thin line between two possible futures. His friend Virgil and Virgil's cousin Han (Sung Kang) treat their own success as students and the growing respect they're earning through participating in a variety of scams and drug sales performed practically under the teachers' noses, but Ben finds himself growing increasingl concerned about which path will be the most important in his life in the long run.
Steve (John Cho, "American Pie," "Big Fat Liar") is a popular public figure with connections to several prestigious Ivy League schools and the status of dating the head cheerleader Stephanie (Karin Anna Cheung). Steve also has another girlfriend on the side whom no one else in the school seems to know about, and allows Ben to date Stephanie when he has an engagement with her. Daric (Roger Fan, "Corky Romano") is the editor of the school newspaper, both intelligent but with an angry streak that emerges from within more prominently as "Tomorrow" continues its story. Daric confronts Ben about being chosen for the basketball team as the "token Asian" and ensures his graduation fron bench warmer to team player by having Asian students show up at a game waving signs that read "We want Ben!"
While directing this film, Lin seemed to draw a bit of inspiration from Tom Tykwer's "Run Lola Run." The similarities in "Run Lola Run" and "Tomorrow" were apparent from the beginning as Lin uses motion stills resembling photographs to introduce each character. Another similarity becomes apparent at one key moment via fast-paced cinematography and accompanying music that called an early scene in "Run Lola Run" to mind in which Franka Potente is the centerpiece of the shot, thinking about how she can get her boyfriend out of the jam he'd found himself in when that movie started. In the scene where a similar method is used in "Tomorrow" it's meant to convey a different meaning, showing Steve's life going around in circles with no apparent way out as he observes how well-to-do Ben is in his opportunities.
As Deric leads Ben and his friends deeper into his world, they become more respected, but Ben still tries to hold on to his chances of growing in his careers in academics and sports. He and Stephanie also grow as closer together as Asian society has assimilated itself into American society to where it may no longer be necessary to label oneself an Asian American but simply an American. Their relationship represents his chances in succeeding in this society while in Deric's world there is still anger and mistrust between different races, as shown by a fight between him and a jock at a local party. In addition to this, it becomes apparent that someone is going to die as we watch Ben's friends grow corrputred by the power and respect they have; hence the discovery at the start of the film. But you'll have to watch the film to see who actually does in the end. - Dave Wolff |
