For our initiative “German cinema is (still) great!” Every month we choose a German film that we particularly liked, inspired or fascinated, to editorially accompany the cinema release – regardless of size – as a blockbuster! In this month is the choice for the nocturnal gangster thriller”shock“, which can be seen in several German cinemas from Thursday:
There are dark gangster films everywhere – but unfortunately hardly in Germany. But directors Daniel Rocket Siegel and Denis Moschitto (who also plays the leading role) now want to change that: with ‘Schock’ They have delivered a nocturnal cologne noir that has a very dark atmosphere – in our 4-star review of the film, it is no coincidence that a comparison is made with the cult trilogy “Pusher” by “Drive” mastermind Nicolas Winding Refn.
That’s what ‘Shock’ is about
Since losing his license over a drug story, Bruno (Denis Moschitto) has found himself on the night side of Cologne – and as a doctor he treats everyone who officially cannot or does not want to seek medical treatment. But then he not only experiences a shooting in a brothel up close, he is also hired by a shady lawyer (Anke Engelke) to take care of a mafia boss in hiding who is suffering from cancer. The only problem is: a lot of people want to see the godfather dead – and they’re using Bruno to get to him, whether he wants them to or not…
It’s dark, consistent and sometimes quite violent. You need a hard stomach, especially for a scene in which Bruno himself files off a protruding finger bone – otherwise you might pass out, as happened twice during the first premiere screenings of “Schock.”
The directors of “Schock” are guests on the FILMSTARTS podcast!
Why do people make dark German genre films despite all odds? How do you find film locations in Cologne that are not completely exhausted yet? And why is it important to respect a city’s geography? ‘Schock’ directors Daniel Rocket Siegel and Denis Moschitto were our guests in the studio to answer our questions in detail in the latest episode of our FILMSTARTS podcast ‘Anzeigeliebe’.
The result of the visit was a very cool conversation in which they were not only happy to give us information about their budget, but we also clarified once and for all whether ‘Atze’ is a positive or negative expression (even if it means that The film actually has nothing to do with it. We hope you enjoy listening, it’s really worth it (in your usual podcatcher or just here):
For us, “Schock” is an absolute must-see – and certainly not just because German genre cinema should be much more supported anyway. This is the conclusion of our extensive 4-star review: “The film tells the story of a former doctor who dares to go too far into the night side with concentration and a stylish sense of well-developed, erupting genre violence. ”