What to do in case of fire (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #87

This is a German film made in 2001 with the original title "Was tun, wenn's brennt?" The English title is a literal translation, but it sounds better in German.

The film is a powerful drama, although I suspect it can barely be understood by non-Germans. The 1980's were a time of revolt in Germany, especially in West Berlin. It was a time of anarchy, closely connected with punk music. When punk rock emerged in England, it was apolitical. English punk wasn't about changing society to make a better world, it had the nihilistic message of "No future". German punk was different. It was strongly political, allying itself with left wing anarchy. German punk wanted to overthrow society, although it made no statement about what the replacement would be. The centre of the revolts against society was in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, an exciting place where I also used to live.

In 1987 six friends occupied a house in Kreuzberg. As radical punks they made bombs, but unlike similar groups they filmed themselves to teach others how to make bombs. Shouldn't they just have written leaflets? They were creating material to incriminate themselves, but they were young and foolish and never thought that far. The police stormed the house and evicted them, but in the action one of them, Hotte, was run over by a water cannon and lost his legs. Ironically, this gave him the right to remain in the house for the rest of his life. German laws are like that. One of his friends, Timmy, remained with him to look after him. The other four went different ways, and they never spoke to one another again.

There was one problem. Shortly before they were evicted they planted a bomb in a luxury villa in Berlin-Grunewald. The timer was faulty, so the bomb didn't explode. The villa stood empty for years, because nobody knew who it belonged to. In 1990 Germany was reunited. A diplomat from Bonn came to Berlin to look at the villa. The bomb exploded, badly injuring him and the real estate agent.

The police raid the houses of all known radicals from the 1980's. Hotte and Timmy realise that the police will eventually identify them as the perpetrators, so they call together their four friends. Maybe time has stood still for Hotte and Timmy, but not for the others. Maik runs a successful advertising agency. Robert has become a lawyer. Nele is a single mother of two children. Flo has become part of Berlin's high society and is about to marry a rich businessman. Can they return to their former ways of terrorism to cover their tracks?

The friends come back together to build a bomb to attack the police station where the evidence is being kept. Five of them, anyway. At first the lawyer refuses to help them, but eventually he changes his mind.

The main characters in the film may be terrorists, but it's impossible not to like them. They're people in their early middle ages who are finding their way back to the ideals of their youth. They used to fight society, but now they're swimming with the stream. They're being forced back into their old ways, but is it just a one-off action? Are they realising that their old ways were better? I've never been a terrorist, but the film still asks me questions. Are the ideals of my youth better than the way I lived as I got older? I never wanted to conform, but I conformed anyway, bribed by high wages when I left university.

I'm happy to say that the film is available on DVD in English. Please buy it. If there's anything you don't understand, leave your questions in the comment box below, and I'll explain everything to you.

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