Anyone who only knows German film as a shallow drama without color saturation will now be convinced of the opposite. Because a film from our homeland is now available on Netflix Intensity and cruel reality puts a lot of things that German cinema audiences are used to in the shade.
It combines one of the most brilliant young German actresses, who has already appeared in front of the camera with none other than Tom Hanks, with a story that will pull the rug out from under your feet: Nora Fingscheidt’s System Sprenger. But be careful: you should for this truly unusual film experience Have nerves like steel ropes.
In System Sprenger, a young girl drives those around her to the brink of absolute despair
By the way, we’re not talking about a thriller or horror film here. No, system buster is straight so frightening because of its realism and everyday problems. Helena Zengel (also known for News from the World with Tom Hanks) embodies the young Benni, who doesn’t make things easy for the adults around her. Not with bad intentions, but because of the way she is.
Benni quickly loses control. It is virtually impossible for them to keep their aggression in check. She throws tantrums, insults the people around her, and becomes violent. So she can’t fit into a normal social environment ensures more than once desperate tears with her mother and helplessness with neurologists, carers and other specialists.
Port au Prince/24 pictures
System buster
The last hope is Micha (Albrecht Schuch), who has experience with similar cases to Benni. He approaches their problems completely differently than all his predecessors. And suddenly Benni thaws. But the relationship between the two is incredibly fragile and just one wrong step could cause the plan to fail hopelessly.
System Sprenger is more gripping than almost any other German film in recent years
Benni is a protagonist that rarely appears in the cinema and even more rarely in German cinema: she is hurtful and vulnerable at the same time, a reflection of what does not fit into the existing structures of our society. It shows how a person can fall apart because of this system and themselves if no help is provided.
The journey this film takes us on is nerve-wracking, drives you crazy, makes us tear our hair out, get excited, wipe away tears. The helplessness that paralyzes many of the adults around Benni creates terrible tension. It’s terribly beautifully staged and played so brilliantly by Helena Zengel that System Sprenger made waves at the Berlinale.
Port au Prince/24 pictures
System buster
It quickly becomes clear that we are dealing with one here constant game of hope, frustration and fear to deal with a child who is as frightening as he is worth saving. System Sprenger defies many boundaries, and the result is pure stress in the best sense, which impresses from start to finish.
Anyone who wants to experience this unusual film experience of German cinema can do so from today with a streaming subscription on Netflix.