German director Hans-Christian Schmid, now in 2013 not too far away from his 50th birthday, shot this film pretty much exactly 10 years ago. The final result was a film which could hardly be any more different from his previous film "Crazy", even if you could classify both as dramas probably. The IMDb page of "Lichter" suggests "Babel" as a similar film and I think that is a pretty good comparison. We don't have the global aspect from Alejandro González Iñárritu's Academy Award winning film, but it has several characters (immigrants, fugitives, criminals, interpreters, businessmen...) whose stories (actually more than 3) are intertwined as well. "Lichter" is a bleaker version of that one and takes place for the most part at the German-Polish border. If you're a bit into German cinema, you'll find quite a few known faces here. Herbert Knaup, Devid Striesow and Henry Hübchen play central characters just like August Diehl five years after his big breakthrough in Hans-Christian Schmid's notable hacking thriller "23".
"Lichter" won indeed some mentionable awards and was possibly the most lauded German movie of 2003 behind the GDR dramedy "Good Bye Lenin!", which has by now turned into one of the most notable German films of all time, also abroad. I recommend "Lichter" especially to Germans with Eastern European roots like myself. A big part of the film is in several languages from the neighboring countries in the east, so you definitely need subtitles or, if you speak any of these, especially Polish, you can improve your skills again.
I wouldn't put this film anywhere near the best of the year, but it has its moments, like the scene with the father trying to get enough money for the dress and how he rushes to the scene at the end. Will he be there in time? Another one I liked was the scene at the Potsdamer Platz, also near the end, and the final interaction between the interpreter and her protégé. It's a bit of a pity that Maria Simon (surely a big talent back then in her mid-20s and also in "Good Bye Lenin!") didn't have a great movie career after this film. I think she gave my favorite performance of the cast and her nomination in the supporting actress category at the German Film Awards was quite deserving. All in all, it's a decent movie and you don't do much wrong if you give it a chance.
"Lichter" won indeed some mentionable awards and was possibly the most lauded German movie of 2003 behind the GDR dramedy "Good Bye Lenin!", which has by now turned into one of the most notable German films of all time, also abroad. I recommend "Lichter" especially to Germans with Eastern European roots like myself. A big part of the film is in several languages from the neighboring countries in the east, so you definitely need subtitles or, if you speak any of these, especially Polish, you can improve your skills again.
I wouldn't put this film anywhere near the best of the year, but it has its moments, like the scene with the father trying to get enough money for the dress and how he rushes to the scene at the end. Will he be there in time? Another one I liked was the scene at the Potsdamer Platz, also near the end, and the final interaction between the interpreter and her protégé. It's a bit of a pity that Maria Simon (surely a big talent back then in her mid-20s and also in "Good Bye Lenin!") didn't have a great movie career after this film. I think she gave my favorite performance of the cast and her nomination in the supporting actress category at the German Film Awards was quite deserving. All in all, it's a decent movie and you don't do much wrong if you give it a chance.