Kaddish for a friend

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Movie
Original title Kaddish for a friend
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2012
length 94 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Leo Khasin
script Leo Khasin
production Martin Bach
music Fabian Römer ,
Dieter Schleip
camera Mathias Schöningh
cut Horst Reiter
occupation

Kaddisch für eine Freund is a German feature film from 2012 . It was directed by Leo Khasin , with Ryszard Ronczewski and Neil Belakhdar in the lead roles .

action

In the beginning there was water. Thus begins in Kaddish for a friend the story of a friendship between the old Russian Jew Alexander and the young Arab Ali. In the new apartment he is moving into with his family, it is dripping from the ceiling. Ali is supposed to look and goes into the apartment above. The washing machine of the old man who lives there has leaked and Ali tries to help. When he realizes that it is a Jew, he runs off to tell his father, who is full of hatred of Jews. The family had lived in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon for a long time and has lived in Berlin-Kreuzberg for a number of years , but only has a tolerance. Ali made contact with other Arab youths through his cousin. The violent group asks him to break into the Jew's apartment and together they devastate it. Alexander surprises her and can identify Ali. He reports to the police. The threatened criminal proceedings could mean deportation from Germany for his family.

Ali's mother manages to keep the matter a secret from her father and to convince Alexander to give her son a second chance: Ali has to sacrifice his vacation and renovate the apartment. For Alexander it is a chance to avoid the impending admission to a retirement home by the social welfare office. At first, the two were very reluctant to work together on the renovation. Ali accuses the Jew, who lived in Israel for a while , that his compatriots drove the Palestinians out, and Alexander accuses Ali's compatriots of killing innocent people by bombing them. But little by little they develop sympathy for each other, slowly a friendship develops and they help each other. Ali paints the destroyed pictures and photos from memory, and Alexander, a former physical education teacher, certifies the boy's talent and gives him the recognition that his father denies him.

Ali has to keep his friendship a secret from the others and especially from his father. Therefore he does not manage to be present at the inspection by the social welfare office. But with the newly renovated apartment and a little luck, Alexander can convince the social welfare office that he is able to take care of himself. He also refers to his son, who will take care of him. Now Alexander wants to keep his promise and withdraw his complaint. But that is proving difficult. As a witness in court, he messes with the judge and gets so enraged that he suffers a faint attack and has to go to the hospital. Ali visits him and Alexander initially thinks he is his son. When Ali realizes how weak Alexander is, he tries to find his son. He searches the apartment and a box that was very important to Alexander. Here he finds the solution: a newspaper clipping and a letter from the Israeli army that the son was killed in a bomb attack. However, before Ali is back in the hospital, Alexander died.

Ali goes to the funeral and a friend of Alexander asks him to come over. He is allowed to say the kaddish , a Jewish prayer that the eldest son usually says at his parents' grave. That is the special appreciation of his commitment and his friendship with Alexander. Ali's father, who has since found out about the affair, picks Ali up from the cemetery and takes him lovingly in his arms. He gradually shed his general hatred of the Jews.

The film calls for reconciliation between the two ethnic groups - despite the suffering that individuals have had to endure. The group of young people also makes it clear that in every people there are vengeful and stubborn people (the leader who also turns against his own people) and versatile people who learn from their mistakes (Ali and Alexander).

reception

The film received the rating "valuable" from the German film and media rating. In the jury's statement, however, it was criticized that “Ali's Arab contemporaries are badly clichéd” and Ali's father is “too one-dimensional in his constant anger”. The film tells of a "difficult, slowly growing friendship [...] - sometimes quite awkward, sometimes clumsy". Much is said to be “rather well meant than well done”. The core story would, however - framed by the "lively [...] acting performances" by Ryszard Ronczewski and Neil Belakhdar - be told "intensely and touchingly". The film website kino.de noted that at the beginning of the film, Khasin took “a rugged, authentic line that paid little attention to politically correct sensitivities”. With “almost documentary, oppressive handheld camera images”, he is “close to all the resentment and outbreaks of violence among immigrants”. However, the film is also humorous and melodramatic.

“In the intergenerational approach, the chamber play-like drama allows for the whole range of feelings of historical entanglements, whereby in the end friendship triumphs over political-religious dogmas. The remarkable debut film relies on the conventions of a naturalistic staging, but is also not stingy with comical moments. Some of the secondary characters sometimes get a bit stereotypical, while the excellent main actors provide touching moments. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Kaddish for a friend . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2011 (PDF; test number: 126 995 K).
  2. ^ Jury statement for Kaddish for a friend. German Film and Media Rating (FBW) , accessed on July 28, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Review by Kaddish for a friend. G + J Entertainment Media (kino.de), accessed on July 28, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Kaddish for a friend. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 4, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used