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Twelve years after his escape, the professional criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. A valuable painting is threatened with being stolen in the city. However, the carefully planned robbery soon gets out of control. What follows is In the Shadows (2010). During the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, viewers were able to see how the professional criminal Trojan (Misel MATICEVIC) from IN THE SHADOW (2010) had to leave the capital for an indefinite period of time. The Trojan still operates in a fairly analogue way: He commits old-fashioned crimes such as stealing material things like watches, cash and paintings. No ties to mafia or clan structures, a lone fighter, only occasionally and if necessary in a team! When an attempted coup in the Ruhr area goes wrong, Trojan has to return to Berlin to use old contacts (Marie-Lou SELLEM). And indeed: Trojan and three companions (Tim SEYFI, Marie LEUENBERGER, Bilge BINGÜL) manage to steal a valuable painting by Caspar David FRIEDRICH. But then the trouble begins with the mysterious customer Viktor (Alexander FEHLING)… At the BERLINALE 2010, IM SCHATTEN by Braunschweig-born Thomas ARSLAN hit like a long-awaited genre bomb. An exciting genre film, shot in Germany, tells the story using the cinematic means of the Berlin School. Extremely exciting, with sparse dialogue and explosive moments of violence! ARSLAN continues SCORCHED EARTH seemingly without a problem. Gangster films are still a rarity in German cinema. With cool precision, cameraman Reinhold VORSCHNEIDER (also IM SCHATTEN) tells the story of the people who live in the shadow of Germany in his images. Dark places, in the shadow of nearby prospects and yet far away from the perception of the police and the normal population. Berlin appears as a co-player and opponent of the protagonists of the film. The muted music by Norwegian composer Ola FLOTTUM (THE WORST MAN IN THE WORLD, 2021) contributes significantly to this tense atmosphere. It shows the capital that you know but don’t know. Many viewers will recognize this urban expansion with all its streets from their own surroundings. Creepy places very close to us: scorched earth in the shadows! Misel MATICEVIC (IN THE FACE OF CRIME / BABYLON BERLIN) is once again convincing in the role of the Trojan, of whom we will probably see more (Thomas ARSLAN is planning a kind of Trojan trilogy). Marie Lou SELLEM (nominated for BONES AND NAMES 2024), nominated for the GERMAN FILM AWARD, is there as an ice-cold mediator. But GERMAN FILM AWARD winner Alexander FEHLING (2019 winner for “THE END OF THE TRUTH”) is frighteningly good and really doesn’t need to hide from classic villains like Klaus KINSKI and Michael FASSBENDER. Thomas ARSLAN doesn’t want to devote as much time to the third film in the Trojan trilogy as he did between 2010 and 2024. It remains exciting!
