"Der geköpfte Hahn" or "The Beheaded Rooster" is a co-production between Germany and Romania from 2007, so this movie in the German language has its 10th anniversary this year. The director ans also one of the writers is Radu Gabrea, a filmmaker from Bucharest, who died very recently actually at the age of 79. He made several films in the German language too during his long career and this one here may very well be the most known. Still fitting with his own background, the film is set in Romania and we find our how life changes for everybody when the Nazis come to the country and impose their views on the local population. Some reach out to them right away, others may need some more convincing. This film is in particular a depiction of how the younger part of the population reacts to this new situation. Anyway, sadly this is a mediocre work overall, but I guess if there are so many films dealing with the subject of WWII and the Nazis, then there is a also a great deal of mediocrity and the fact where this is set changes very little in terms of the film's quality level.
It is not a bad movie by any means, but it is a film that does not deliver anything new to the genre at all and beyond that also stays very superficial and shallow despite occasionally trying to make an impact. Unsuccessfully. The baity title (and the scene related to it) are the best example actually. Both offer really nothing apart from disgust and shock value probably although both try to make an impact certainly. I am sure if you try hard enough you can dig out a metaphor about the entire thing, but you have to dig really deep here. The performances also weren't as good for the most part. Some serious cases of overacting and none of the actors really has the talent from what I saw to elevate the forgettable material. Then again, the latter is also not helping the cast at all, so it's kinda difficult to put any blame on them. The character transformation of the central character (young Goldschmidt) felt extremely rushed and as it is such a crucial component, it hurts the entire film. Female characters were mostly underwritten or used in a way where they felt fairly stereotypical and generic unfortunately. The latter adjective is also an accurate description of the entire almost 100 minutes. For me the dragging was far more significant than the memorable moments. If there were any, that is. Not recommended.
It is not a bad movie by any means, but it is a film that does not deliver anything new to the genre at all and beyond that also stays very superficial and shallow despite occasionally trying to make an impact. Unsuccessfully. The baity title (and the scene related to it) are the best example actually. Both offer really nothing apart from disgust and shock value probably although both try to make an impact certainly. I am sure if you try hard enough you can dig out a metaphor about the entire thing, but you have to dig really deep here. The performances also weren't as good for the most part. Some serious cases of overacting and none of the actors really has the talent from what I saw to elevate the forgettable material. Then again, the latter is also not helping the cast at all, so it's kinda difficult to put any blame on them. The character transformation of the central character (young Goldschmidt) felt extremely rushed and as it is such a crucial component, it hurts the entire film. Female characters were mostly underwritten or used in a way where they felt fairly stereotypical and generic unfortunately. The latter adjective is also an accurate description of the entire almost 100 minutes. For me the dragging was far more significant than the memorable moments. If there were any, that is. Not recommended.