What to do in case of fire (5 Stars)

This is the last film that I'm reviewing for my Five Star Month. That makes it 41 films. Or maybe I should say it's 40 films, since I shouldn't include "Sweeney Todd" in the total. Either way, it's more than I expected. I thought I would be reviewing between 20 and 30 films. It's been a fun month for me, watching so many of the films I love most back to back. It's also been a successful month. My monthly readership figures have gone over 3000 for the first time ever, which is quite a success since my previous record was 2715. I should have theme months more often.

My readers must have noticed that my last four films this month (including this one) are German films. But how many of you have noticed that all four take place in Berlin? Berlin, Berlin, the proud metropolis in the heart of Europe that used to call itself Europe's capital, much to the annoyance of London and Paris. That was in the first half of the 20th Century. The post-war division and isolation of Berlin negated its claim to European supremacy, but now it's struggling its way back. It certainly is a marvellous city, rich in cultural heritage, a city that everyone should visit at least once before he dies.

This is a film that I like more each time I watch it, and I'm glad that it's been released in America. Admittedly, the earlier scenes of the film might be difficult for non-Germans to understand. Indeed, they might even seem foreign to Germans from other parts of the country. In the 1960's and 1970's there was a strong terrorist scene in Germany, which enjoyed sympathy from a large section of the German population. I mentioned this in my review of "Baader Meinhof Complex". This scene fizzled out in most of Germany, but it continued on a smaller scale in West Berlin. There were many people who called themselves "autonomous radicals" who frequently demonstrated against the police. Yes, they indulged in terrorist activities such as planting bombs, but unlike the Baader Meinhof Group they tried to avoid killing or injuring people. The main issue that the radicals protested about was the housing market and the house owners who they referred to as "speculators". The reason for this was that West Berlin was an island, surrounded by a wall, with a large population in a finite space. Every house that stood empty made the problem worse. It was common for houses that were left empty to be occupied, and attempts by the police to evict the squatters were made difficult by the large amount of sympathy the squatters had. This situation, commonly called the "Hausbesetzerszene" ("house occupier scene"), ceased to exist as a movement after the reunification of Germany in 1990.

The film starts in 1987. Six friends live in a house they are occupying in Machnow Street, Berlin-Kreuzberg. They have established themselves as a special film crew in the scene. They make films on subjects such as "How to make bombs", as well as documenting demonstrations and examples of police brutality. In 1987 they plant a bomb in an empty villa on the outskirts of West Berlin. Since it's too far from the city centre and impractical to occupy they would rather destroy it than have it left empty. But the bomb fails to explode. Time passes. Germany changes. In 2000 the villa is entered for the first time, and the bomb explodes.

But what has happened to the six friends after all these years? Tim and Hotte are still occupying the same house, safe from eviction because Hotte is a cripple and can't be legally evicted. Maik has founded a advertising agency and lives a life of luxury. Robert has become a lawyer. Nele is a single mother with two children. Flo has become a member of Berlin's high society, and has dated rich men who have taken her around the world. When Tim realises that the police have evidence, their own films, that would identify them as the ones responsible, he calls the six back together for one last desperate act of self-defence: they have to break into Berlin's highly fortified main police station to destroy the evidence.

The film is brilliant on so many levels. While ostensibly a film about political unrest, it's really a film about friendship, and a character study in how friendship can survive even when people change. When the film starts we see six young idealists, fighting for what they believe in. 13 years later three of them (Maik, Robert and Flo) have been seduced by wealth and have become part of the system they once opposed. Hotte still lives in the past, sentimentally watching films of his old protests before he was crippled. Tim is torn between the old world and the new, but Hotte is his anchor in the past. Nele is always broke and is simply struggling to survive. The story becomes all the more fascinating as they slowly rekindle their friendship while planning their biggest ever attack.

I can relate to the film myself. For a short while I lived in a commune in Berlin-Kreuzberg, close to the street shown in the film. Even though I was never a radical, I knew people who were and sympathised with their aims. But for me it's a broader issue. When I was young I had ideals. I rejected the comforts of society and promised I would never let money rule me. I would always be "alternative". I went to work, and in the first few years of my career I remained true to myself by living simply. Then I got married, which was the biggest change in my life. My wife had never been an idealist like me, and I adapted to her way of thinking. We lived in a large apartment, we had comfortable furniture, we had two cars, we went on holiday abroad every year. The excuse was that I had children and needed to give them the best. There's always a way to rationalise broken promises, especially promises that I made to myself.

My marriage broke up, unfortunately. Despite doing all I could to adapt myself to her my wife drove me away. I still love her and would gladly take her back if she could once more become the cute little 20-year-old I first met. I mean her attitude, of course. Without her I attempted to hold onto my life of luxury, but it all came crashing down. There were the changes that I alluded to in my post about "Pleasantville". Now I have a new chance. I can proudly lead a life without luxury. It depends on definition, of course. Some people would call my computer and my DVD collection luxuries; for me they are necessities. I certainly don't have as much unnecessary stuff as I did during my marriage. I shall die poor, I know that. But I shall die happy, knowing that I've been given a second chance to be true to myself.