I what is said to be a film that breaks the usual German movie formula, the first-ever German Film Week recently opened in Manila with 2014 cyber-thriller Who Am I: No System Is Safe.
According to Goethe Intitut Philippines Director Ulrich Nowak, Who Am I offers a unique and refreshing take from the otherwise “boring” German film image.
“The movie is what you can call a cyber-thriller. It is very unusual for a German film production, which is considered to be a little bit of brain-loaded, a little bit of gray and a little bit of boring. So I hope we can prove the opposite to you,” Nowak said.
Nowak said the institute hopes to bring in more German films for the Filipino audience in the future.
“It’s great to see that the image of German film which many people did not shy the audience away. We are trying to bring the latest productions from 2016 and 2015 to the screens here. Most of them are from the Berlin Film Festival,” Nowak said.
He added: “It’s a little bit of everything for everyone’s taste. We just want to bring very new German movies, which we think meets the taste of the Filipino audience, and we want them to be introduced to the German cinema production scene. It’s a first time, a premiere, but we are going to continue next year.”
Who Am I is somewhat David Fincher’s 1999 adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club meets The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo’s hacking and computer programming element.
In the movie, a genius hacker named Benjamin meets mysterious Max over a community work sentence for having hacked into a university’s security system. Max brings Benjamin to their group who are also hackers and, together, they form CLAY (Clowns Laughing At You).
Wanting to gain Internet attention, as well as the patronage of MRX, an infamous hacker in the Darkweb, the group creates several online mischief and hacking endeavors. Their plans begin to be more daring, wanting to impress X until it is too late.
At first glimpse, the movie may seem like just over programming skills gone haywire, but as the story progresses, those with a flair for psychological twists are in for a treat as Who Am I explores themes of schizophrenia and multiple personalities disorder.
The German film festival showcased 13 films that were released over the last two years. The festival will be taken to Baguio, Cebu and Davao.
Image credits: Goethe Institut
