2016-03-31
N/A
90 min
The Congolese Sikumoya faces prejudice and racism on a regular basis. He's accused of not adapting enough to the "German culture" and tries harder. A Neo-Nazi group and his mother-in-law push him to the breaking point. While in a coma, his metamorphosis completes.
Having watched Dave Chappelle's performance of Clayton Bigsby, "The Black, White Supremist" years ago, the basic synopsis sounded pretty familiar, but it being in Germany, in particular, eastern Germany, this felt a lot closer to home for me. Rather than just covering the common stereotypes faced by people who don't look German, this goes deeper in asking the question what exactly is German. Is it the culture? Is it the blood? Is it limited to the specific region, declaring everything that isn't Saxon to be foreign, including the demand to deport Bavarians and Rhinelanders? Is it the German virtues, as for example industriousness, resulting in the deportation of an unemployed Saxon to the Czech Republic? This movie is meant to be uncomfortable and it does a good job at it. In my view one of the better independent movies coming out of Germany recently.
