Verso (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Verso |
| Original title | Verso |
| Country of production |
Switzerland Belgium Luxembourg |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Xavier Ruiz |
| script | Nicholas Cuthbert Xavier Ruiz |
| production | Xavier Ruiz Donato Rotunno Eric Tavitian |
| music | Tom Bimmermann |
| camera | Gregory Pedat |
| cut | Jean-Paul Cardinaux Xavier Ruiz |
| occupation | |
| |
Verso ( original spelling : VEЯSO , in German-speaking countries also Verso - Revenge is a State of Mind ) is a Swiss feature film that was released in 2009 . It is a psychological thriller that takes place in the present, is set up in the environment of the police and mafia-like organizations and deals with topics such as revenge and justice . Verso was directed by Xavier Ruiz , who was also involved in the production, the script and acted as film editor.
action
Alex Decker works for a special unit of the Geneva police , which is active in "tougher" operations, such as the fight against organized drug trafficking. His marriage has failed and his wife Clara has custody of their sixteen-year-old daughter Lou, who increasingly gets into bad company and into contact with drugs. Shortly before Decker's promotion, his former childhood friend and police colleague Victor Preiswerk is released from a ten-year prison sentence for killing a woman in self-defense who attacked him after he raped her while on a drug intoxication.
Decker and Preiswerk had been friends since childhood. Over time, however, Preiswerk got more and more into the criminal milieu and owes a large part of his prison sentence to a statement by Decker in court. The latter now fears Preiswerk's revenge and decides to personally pick him up from prison and continue to shadow him.
Shortly after his release, Preiswerk starts working for Ceku Arti, the local boss of the Albanian Mafia , which is involved in drug trafficking and prostitution and has stood up to the police for a long time. After meeting with Ceku's foreman Besim, he takes up work in a kebab fast food shop, which is used as a warehouse and sales point for heroin. He is helped by Fred, a young dealer who often embezzles drugs in order to sell them himself. In addition, Preiswerk is refreshing his earlier affair with Clara Decker.
A few days later, Decker's unit tried to sabotage a meeting of drug dealers in a parking garage with the use of tear gas bombs . But the arrest of those involved fails and Decker's younger colleague Sébastien is shot. The incident does not leave Decker in peace, and in order to find the person responsible, he turns to prostitute Anja Lagrange who works for Ceku, who he threatens to reveal to Ceku about her contacts with the criminal investigation department. Anja helps him to arrest the alleged perpetrator, who turns out to be Preiswerk, at the train station. Decker accuses him of murdering Sébastien, but the head of the unit does not take him seriously and dismisses Preiswerk.
Alex then brings Lou because he no longer wants to let her live with Clara and Preiswerk. The relationship between father and daughter improves greatly and Lou learns that Alex's younger brother Vincent fell into an ice hole with Victor as a child and that Alex could only save Victor. At the same time, Preiswerk exposes Fred's scams, so that Besim falls into disrepute and is finally beaten up in the toilet of a bistro.
The next morning Lou visits Clara's apartment to pick up personal belongings. In doing so, however, she disappears, and her parents find the apartment completely destroyed. Decker suspects that his daughter was kidnapped by Preiswerk as an act of revenge. He visits Anja Lagrange and presses the whereabouts of the former policeman out of her. He then persuades his unit to intervene on their own and without notifying their superiors to free Lou and arrest Preiswerk, Besim and Ceku. During the night, the police arrive at the place mentioned, a neglected collection point. There is a major handover of drugs and when Preiswerk is alone in an adjoining room, Alex provides him. However, he denies the kidnapping and claims that he is still working as an undercover agent for the police. The conversation is overheard by Fred, who holds the two in bay at gunpoint and wants to alert Besim. When the rest of the police step in, however, Decker is overwhelmed and seriously injured. Meanwhile, Besim manages to escape. The arriving police confirm Preiswerk's allegation and temporarily suspend Alex from duty for going solo.
Alex receives a call from his father, Horace, who explains that Lou is with him. In a retrospective scene, the viewer learns how Lou arrived at her mother's apartment that morning and discovered some things from Preiswerk. Among them were a pistol from Besim and a letter from Clara, in which this Preiswerk reveals that he is in fact Lou's father. This surprising news triggered a fit of anger in Lou, which led her to demolish the apartment and flee to her grandfather.
Anja Lagrange meets with Ceku and informs him that Preiswerk is playing a double game. At the same time Alex discovers a family connection between Anja and the prostitute who was killed by Preiswerk ten years ago. He suspects Anja's revenge on Victor and wants to warn his former comrade. This is currently in Clara's apartment. When Lou comes home from Horace, she threatens her real father with his gun and tells him to disappear forever. A little later Alex arrives and Victor wants to tell him that Lou is actually his daughter. However, this shoots at him before Alex can learn the truth. With his last breath, Victor only asks Alex to take care of Lou and takes his secret with him to the grave. Besim also turns up, presumably to kill Preiswerk on Ceku's behalf and thus to fulfill Anja's revenge. When he sees Victor's body, he just takes his gun from Lou and leaves the apartment. In order to grant Victor's request, Alex takes the blame for Victor's death. At last you can see him in his cell, putting a photo of him with Lou on the windowsill.
Soundtrack
The music for Verso was created by the film composer Tom Bimmermann. The film starts with Tonight i'll kill you from the album Better in Springtime by the trip-hop and soul band Aloan. The tracks One dance for destiny and I'm in your tears from the same album are also used. All three songs run in scenes that take place in brothels or discos. The song Goodbye by the singer Polar is used during the opening credits and in the scene of Tanja Abramovich's death. During the credits , the consumer can hear the theme song V of Stress. In the flashback scene about Preiswerk's act, the band Samael's song Black Hole is an aggressive Black Metal piece.
Trivia
- The budget for the film was 4 million Swiss francs.
- The supporting role of the greedy mafia henchman Fred is played by the Swiss rapper Andres “Stress” Andrekson , with whom Carlos Leal often worked in the music business. Leal is considered the mentor of the band Double Pact and over the years recorded the songs Si tu aimes and La haine est sans loi with stress.
- In order to develop the necessary emotions for the film role of Victor, Carlos Leal had his wife locked himself up in a dark, narrow toilet for two hours every day for a week, which was supposed to give the impression of a prison. He also wrote a short biography of the character for himself in order to prepare for the role.
- In contrast to the original version, Anja Lagrange does not speak with a Russian accent in the German dubbing.
- The gang boss Ceku Arti is mentioned again and again, but can only be seen in a car garage for a few seconds in the film.
- The men in the police force all have nicknames or cover names. Alex Decker is called Rio . Von Arx is also called Cobra , Sébastien Tracks and Martino Titi . The fifth group member is only called PA.
- Decker, Preiswerk, Von Arx, Sébastien, Martino and PA are big fans of HC Servette Genève . Ruiz shot several scenes from the film during the matches at Les Vernets .
- In addition to Switzerland, the location was also Luxembourg .
- At one point Lou and Stéphane watch the film Calvaire - Torture of Madness with Laurent Lucas.
- The film was originally supposed to be called Obscur .
- The premiere took place on November 12th in Zurich .
Reviews
"Melancholic Swiss cop thriller with convincing actors and a dense atmosphere."
"An action-packed Swiss thriller that gets under your skin."
“ Verso may not be a masterpiece, but it convinces with realistic figures and shows that even in wonderful Geneva, not everything that glitters is gold. The story has a few lengths, but for the most part works anyway and shows that police films made in Switzerland can certainly work. "
Web links
- Verso in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website of the film
- Information, pictures, trailers and criticism on Outnow.ch
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d End credits of the film
- ↑ PDF dossier ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Stressmusic.ch Budget ( Memento of the original dated May 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Glamnet.ch: Interview with Carlos Leal ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Blick.ch: Location Luxembourg
- ↑ Making-of Verso (German DVD)
- ^ Outnow.ch: Date and place of the premiere
- ↑ Verso. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Film review on Verso ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on ART-TV
- ^ Outnow.ch: film review
