Berlinale: Bare words, barren areas

After all the meaningful, cerebral, politically or otherwise significant films that are shown at the Berlinale, the critic is downright surprised to be able to watch a classic genre film in the Panorama section for a change. “Scorched Earth” by Thomas Arslan can rightly be described as such. The film about a robbery, its planning, execution and ignominious end offers pretty much all the set pieces that make up a classic crime thriller and film noir and is actually quite exciting. At the beginning we get to know Trojan (Mišel Matičević), a professional criminal who comes back to Berlin after a long absence and is looking for new “jobs”, as robberies are called within the scene.

Of course the world has moved on now and the old contacts are no longer of any use. This is how it takes until Trojan receives the prospect of a lucrative order: a painting by Caspar David Friedrich is to be stolen from a Berlin depot on behalf of an eccentric millionaire. The coup brings him together with two associates and the getaway driver Diana (Marie Leuenberger), with whom a tender tête-à-tête seems to be in the offing, but in the world in which both of them move, there is no room for love. If this all sounds familiar, you’re definitely right. Arslan freely uses the genre’s cutlery and – unfortunately, it has to be said – doesn’t add anything new to it. In true film noir style, the characters move through dark, worn-out urban landscapes, meet in deserted urban wastelands and drive through desolate, forbidding areas in fat cars. Only the bare minimum is spoken, no friendly words, anywhere. Caution, distrust and taciturnity are the guiding principles of their thoughts and actions.

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However, the mistrust is completely justified, because as it turns out after the successful robbery, the ominous millionaire in the background has no intention of handing over the agreed sum and instructs his henchman Victor (Alexander Fehling) to take care of the matter. You can probably guess what happens next. Soon it’s just a matter of getting away with their lives for those involved. A punching and stabbing begins, betrayal here, deceit there, paintings and money move from one to the other – where both end up is not revealed here.

Ultimately, genre films like “Scorched Earth” tell a lot about the society in which they are set. The events on the screen show that neoliberal laws also permeate the demimonde – everyone cooks their own soup, everyone fights for themselves and everyone fights against everyone, the winner takes it all. The fascination that such stories exert on the audience is probably based on atavistic primal instincts, when man was actually still a wolf to man before he created the class society and later the welfare state. The reversal is currently being worked on diligently and in the world as depicted in the film, conditions that were thought to have been overcome are already a reality.

“Scorched Earth” is the second part of a planned trilogy by Arslan with the figure of Trojan. At least in the current part, however, we learn absolutely nothing about those involved, their past and motives. Mišel Matičević embodies an enigmatic darkness and forlornness, which, however, is not explained and therefore remains incoherent in the room. It’s almost impossible to get close to the characters. In addition, the film is linear and told very straight, without flourishes or intellectual deviations. The Berlinale-experienced viewer is looking for the deeper message and is constantly waiting for a second level of meaning to emerge, for some original idea to appear that makes it clear what interested Arslan, who also wrote the script, in the material. But Arslan seems to have merely copied the great role models – at least that’s enough for a successful entertainment film.

“Scorched Earth”, Germany 2024. Directed and written by Thomas Arslan. With: Mišel Matičević, Marie Leuenberger, Alexander Fehling, Tim Seyfi, Bilge Bingül. Dates: February 22nd, 12.30 p.m., Cubix 9; February 23rd, 3:30 p.m., Cineplex Titania; February 24th, 9:30 p.m., Zoo-Palast 1.

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