Gun-shy (2003)

"Schussangst" or "Gun-shy" is a German 100-minute movie from over a decade ago and probably the most known work by writer and director Dino Tsintadze. He adapted Dirk Kurbjuweit for the big screen here. The lead actor is Fabian Hinrichs and I have to say I am quite a fan of him. He has really good talent and proves this also in this movie here. i think the only reason why he is not more famous is that he falls exactly into the same niche like Daniel Brühl in terms of which characters suit him best, namely young men who are as sensitive as unstable. I do believe he is more talented than Brühl though, even if the general public may disagree. His female co-lead here is Lavinia Wilson and I thought she did her part well too as a young woman facing her very own demons, the toughest you can actually imagine in her own family.These two are the heart and soul of the story. But the supporting actors are probably even more famous. Christoph Waltz shows up as a police detective before his international breakthrough with Tarantino. And Axel Prahl plays a man who likes to swim in the moonlight. And while I like both as actors, I must say I did not like the way they were included in the film. They appear so random and it is such a coincidence that they keep running into the protagonist that I seriously consider the idea that they only exist in his mind. It's not 100% clear.The one thing I liked about this film the most is the ending. It is shocking yet extremely realistic at the very same time and that is quite an achievement. It fits perfectly to the main character that he cannot deal with rejection and that he would pursue his initial plan despite the target being dead. He sees himself as a victim now and hates the woman, the way he says her name when he sees her for the last time also makes this very much obvious. The final shot was absolutely outstanding. It makes complete sense in the way Hinrichs' character was written and in the way he was portrayed by the actor. He sees himself as being used by her when she felt bad, but now that her biggest problem is gone, she does not want anything more to do with him and also has fun with other guys as we see in the scene I previously mentioned. I also really liked that we don't see Hinrichs again in that final scene and that the credits roll in seconds after the shot. It is perfection. No need to bring back Waltz for the protagonist's arrest. The movie certainly could not have gone out on a higher note. I was almost tempted to give it a ****/***** because of that, but I refrained from it because some of the discrepancies from earlier in the movie, i.e. also those I have mentioned. But nonetheless as a whole it was a pretty good watch and you should definitely check it out.

very nice thoughtful scenes and love-story of two foreigners. The inspector "Christoph Waltz" had a roll which remembers to Colombo. And the trist scenes when bringing the "food" to the skuril people make enough impressions without loud action. The action and content follows in the construct and fantasy of the spectator. The actors play their longing-full scenes authentic. I've seen it at night, tired, before going to bed on German TV some week ago. The best situation to watch it. It is no action film. The problem: I fell asleep at the last maximum 20 seconds of the film. I just heard but didn't see it the last seconds. If someone has seen it, please eMail me, what happened to whom at the end. And if it was a happy end or not?

Just good enough to keep me going late at night in a German hotel room. Best seen like that. Titillating and quirky, no more no less. But enough so for me to remember the title and hunt it down (...). The scene with the neighbor who's obsessed with North Korea is worth the price of admission (in my case, free, but who's counting?). The girl is sick, the guy's a dreaming loser. The writer who mentioned Hartley and Chabrol should add Rohmer to the list of influences (it's like a slasher Chloe In The Afternoon). I have to write more, but there's really nothing much else to say. Arte is a good channel for travelers who don't want to go completely brain-dead in front of the TV.

This is a lightweight movie, which doesn´t take itself too serious. I saw it at the Guadalajara festival "muestra", where it was well received.As a more serious intention, it gives a portrait of an insecure and inexperienced young man, who works as a "Zivi" in the social service, delivering food too senior citizens. He meets a girl he can't really catch up with. Simple-minded as he is, he feels he has to protect her, so in the end we see a gun go off.From the point of view of filmmaking, a problem is that the lead character is quite shallow, so the movie does not work very well as a psychological study. Neither could the actor convince me totally of his dark sides as a nice boy loosing contact with reality.On the other hand, the film depicts quite well some scenes of everyday life in Germany, and it deals with a fine sense of humour intoducing some very funny contemporanean citizens, so that in the end you might like it.