The Silence | |
---|---|
Directed by | Baran bo Odar |
Written by | Baran bo Odar |
Based on | Das Schweigen by Jan Costin Wagner |
Produced by | Frank Evers Maren Lüthje Florian Schneider Jörg Schulze |
Starring | Ulrich Thomsen Wotan Wilke Möhring Katrin Sass |
Cinematography | Nikolaus Summerer |
Edited by | Robert Rzesacz |
Music by | Michael Kamm Kris Steininger Tim Allhoff |
Production companies | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Budget | €2,300,000 |
The Silence (German : Das letzte Schweigen) is a 2010 German thriller film directed by Baran bo Odar, after the German crime fiction novel The Silence (German : Das Schweigen) by Jan Costin Wagner.
Summer 1986: Pia, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, is raped and murdered in a wheat field near a small provincial German town by one man while another man watches silently from the passenger seat of his red car. The murderer packs Pia's body into the trunk of the car and leaves her bicycle behind.
In 2009, exactly 23 years later, 13-year-old Sinikka Weghamm goes missing from the local fair. Her bicycle is discovered in the same spot where Pia's bike had been found.
Senior detective Krischan Mittich, who investigated the original murder, has just retired. The new murder investigation is undertaken by David Jahn, a detective who is still emotionally overwhelmed by the death of his wife five months earlier. Mittich takes an interest in the new case, but he is blocked from participating by the new senior detective, Matthias Grimmer, who insists on doing things his way, even when he is wrong.
A flashback shows the initial meeting of Pia's murderer, Danish national Peer Sommer, and his companion, a student named Timo. The men form a bond as Sommer shares his collection of pornographic films, including one that shows the abuse of an adolescent girl, with Timo.
Timo leaves after Pia's murder, to Sommer's dismay.
Mittich, the retired detective, visits Pia's mother and rails against the false hope that detective Grimmer holds out for Sinikka's parents, who grow increasingly upset at the lack of progress in the investigation.
Timo, who has married, taken his wife's last name, and had two children of his own, is now an architect. Upon hearing of the new murder, he leaves home and makes his way back to Sommer. Sommer is glad to see his old friend and says that he had tried unsuccessfully to find Timo after he had left 23 years earlier. Sommer gives Timo a DVD copy of the old film with the girl.
Timo leaves Sommer again. He watches the DVD in his hotel room and cries with shame and guilt. He goes to see Pia's mother. His questions about Pia make the mother suspicious, and she tells ex-detective Mittich about him. Timo goes to the police station, presumably to confess, and Jahn notices him in the parking lot about to exit his car, but Timo has second thoughts and leaves.
Based on Timo's suspicious questions to Pia's mother, Jahn and Mittich visit Timo's house. He is not home, but the detectives question his wife and then find child pornography on his computer.
Jahn meanwhile has gotten the idea of matching the list of red cars in the vicinity of Pia's murder with the list of red cars in the vicinity of an earlier murder. After initially rejecting the idea, Grimmer adopts the idea and sends his subordinates, including pregnant Jana Gläser, but not including Jahn, out to interview the owners of the cars. Jahn sets out with Gläser anyway, but he leaves her when he gets word that a suspicious man (Timo) has visited Pia's mother. Gläser interviews Sommer alone. Sommer consults his diary to provide an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of Sinikka's murder; he hides a knife on his person in case she acts too suspicious, but she tentatively accepts the alibi, though she puts a question mark next to Sommer's name.
Timo commits suicide by driving a car into the lake where Sinikka is later found, and afterwards, Grimmer believes that Timo was the sole murderer of both girls, but Jahn is not convinced. Following this, Sinikka's body is found by a swimmer, and her parents are informed. Jahn realizes that Pia's headphones had been tossed from the passenger side of the car after her murder, and that means that someone else was driving the car. He hypothesizes that Sinikka's murder had been a signal from the other man, a lonely pedophile, that he wanted to reunite with his old friend. But Grimmer does not want to hear any new theories, and, after a tussle, he suspends Jahn.
Sommer, who had told detective Gläser that he no longer has a car, is seen returning home in a car lent to him by a neighbor—the same car that was used in Sinikka's abduction. He learns of Timo's death, and the film ends with him contemplating the loss of his friend.
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw reviewed favourably the film writing "this icy, gripping police procedural thriller is easy to recommend for fans of The Killing, and indeed for anyone else, too". [1]
The film won or was nominated for the following awards:
Das letzte Schweigen | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by Pas de Deux | |
Genre | Soundtracks |
Label | Ni Records |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pia" | Pas de Deux | 3:32 |
2. | "The Silence" | Pas de Deux | 1:50 |
3. | "Farewell" | Pas de Deux | 2:07 |
4. | "I Am Timo" | Pas de Deux | 2:21 |
5. | "Sinikka" | Pas de Deux | 3:12 |
6. | "Memento" | Pas de Deux | 1:26 |
7. | "Talking to Silence" | Pas de Deux | 3:09 |
8. | "Prelude, Pt. 1" | Pas de Deux | 1:00 |
9. | "The Nightmare" | Pas de Deux | 1:54 |
10. | "Martina" | Pas de Deux | 3:02 |
11. | "Draw the Curtain" | Pas de Deux | 3:18 |
12. | "Broken Silence" | Pas de Deux | 1:17 |
13. | "Epilogue" | Pas de Deux | 1:09 |
14. | "Requiem" | Pas de Deux | 1:10 |
15. | "The Lake" | Pas de Deux | 1:34 |
16. | "Prelude, Pt. 2" | Pas de Deux | 0:53 |
17. | "Redemption" | Pas de Deux | 1:15 |
18. | "The Awakening" | Pas de Deux | 6:12 |
19. | "All Is Lost" | Pas de Deux | 3:06 |
20. | "Peer's Ending" | Pas de Deux | 3:59 |
Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Cary Elwes. The screenplay by David Klass is based on James Patterson's best-selling 1995 novel of the same name. A sequel titled Along Came a Spider was released in 2001.
Narc is a 2002 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Jason Patric and Ray Liotta. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives in search of the murderer of an undercover police officer. As they investigate, they engage in unethical behavior and uncover dark secrets that will challenge their fragile relationship.
The Silence of the Hams is a 1994 comedy thriller film written by, directed by, and starring Italian comedian Ezio Greggio. It is a parody of many popular thriller and horror films, notably The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho. Along with Greggio, it features an ensemble cast of Dom DeLuise, Billy Zane, Joanna Pacuła, Charlene Tilton and Martin Balsam.
Above Suspicion is a 1995 American crime thriller-drama film starring Christopher Reeve, Joe Mantegna and Kim Cattrall. The screenplay was written by William H. Macy, who also has a small role in the film. It premiered on HBO on May 21, 1995.
The Rich Man's Wife is a 1996 American thriller film written and directed by Amy Holden Jones and starring Halle Berry. The title character becomes a suspect when her husband is murdered and the investigating detectives are suspicious of her alibi. The film was released on September 13, 1996.
Matador is a 1986 black comedy-drama thriller film by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar about a student matador, Ángel Giménez, who confesses to murders he did not commit.
Es geschah am hellichten Tag is a 1958 Swiss-West German-Spanish thriller film directed by Ladislao Vajda. The original screenplay was written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, a Swiss playwright and novelist, and the first incarnation of the film is still acclaimed by critics. Heinz Rühmann and Gert Fröbe both starred in the 1958 movie.
Sliver is a 1993 American erotic thriller film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York high-rise sliver building. Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas. Because of a major battle with the MPAA, the filmmakers were forced to make extensive reshoots before release. These reshoots actually necessitated changing the killer's identity. The film stars Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, and Tom Berenger. When he signed on to direct the film, Noyce remarked, "I liked the script a lot. Or at least, I liked the idea of jumping on the Joe Eszterhas bandwagon."
Target is a 1985 American mystery thriller film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman. It was the last film distributed by Warner Bros. before ending the distribution deal with CBS and shutting down its film production arm.
Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear is the twelfth film installment of the Case Closed manga and anime franchise. The initial screening of the film was scheduled on April 19, 2008. An OVA, which takes place three years earlier, was released specially for the film. The OVA was released on DVD as Magic File #2.
Sssshhh... is a 2003 Indian slasher film written and directed by Pavan S. Kaul. It features Karan Nath, Dino Morea and Tanisha in the lead roles. It was produced by Sunil Mehta and Prem Kishen. The music was directed by Anu Malik. The movie was inspired by the 1996 Hollywood thriller Scream.
Wotan Wilke Möhring is a German actor.
The Next Three Days is a 2010 American action thriller film written and directed by Paul Haggis and starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. It was released in the United States on November 19, 2010, and was filmed on location in Pittsburgh. It is a remake of the 2008 French film Pour elle by Fred Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans.
Blackout is a 1985 American made-for-television psychological thriller film directed by Douglas Hickox, and written by Richard Smith, Richard Parks, Les Alexander, and David Ambrose.
Johannes Guter was a Latvian-born German filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer. Although most of his work is now lost, he is considered a pioneer of German silent cinema and expressionism.
Lila & Eve is a 2015 American crime drama film directed by Charles Stone III and written by Patrick Gilfillan. The film stars Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez. It premiered on January 30, 2015, at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was released in North America on July 17, 2015, in a limited release and through video on demand by Samuel Goldwyn Films. This marks the second time Davis and Lopez acted in a film together, the first being the Steven Soderbergh film Out of Sight in 1998.
The Whole Truth is a 2016 American thriller film directed by Courtney Hunt and written by Nicholas Kazan. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Gabriel Basso, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Renée Zellweger, and Jim Belushi. The film was released on October 21, 2016.
Gemini is a 2017 American mystery thriller film written, directed and edited by Aaron Katz. It stars Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz, Greta Lee, Nelson Franklin, Reeve Carney, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Ricki Lake, and John Cho. The plot follows the assistant of a Hollywood actress who must clear her name after her starlet boss is found murdered in her home.
Dogs of Berlin is a streaming television series and the second German series produced for Netflix after Dark. First pictures of the ongoing production were shown in April 2018, after production started in November 2017.
Murder Mystery is a 2019 American comedy mystery film directed by Kyle Newacheck and written by James Vanderbilt. The film stars Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Luke Evans, and follows a married couple who are caught up in a murder investigation on a billionaire's yacht. It was released on June 14, 2019, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel is scheduled to be released in 2022.