We here at AICN realize that most of you loyal readers are in Prequel Heaven, or Hell right now, but we do believe it or not have 1000's of fans of other types of film out there also. So while the bulk of our coverage today will deal with THE TRAILER we will have so titbits for those few unfortuniates who have not joined the fold, this is one such piece.
Hi there!
You may not care for this since THE TRAILER is every geeks main concern now, but I'll give it a shot...
I recently read the review of "23" on your page and when I heard of a special preview of the film at the Braunschweig (Germany) film fest, I made sure I was there that night! Let me assure you this film is everything the other guy said it was! It's thrilling and very involving, the acting is top notch as the direction is. They did a great job of recreating the look of the eighties. The film, which is based on a true story, is set in the city of Hannover, Germany where a lot of it was obviously filmed (which is actually where I live and I really got a kick out of the fact that I saw the lead characters in places I had been myself the day before). And computer freaks will get nostalgic when they see the films two hackers breaking in other systems using their C-64!!!
There are only two other films I can remember that dealt with the danger of the overall control of things by computers and man's lack of control over the machines: WarGames (which I like a lot) and Sneakers, but that one was more of a comedy. 23 takes on the whole matter very seriously, even more so than WarGames. The film had it's funny moments, but the overall tone is rather dark and serious; not what I would call a feelgood movie (that, of course, doesn't mean it's not enterntaining!)
The film's producer and director were at the screening as well as one of the lead actors, and they made sure we would remember the release date, which is January 14th for Germany (distribution by Buena Vista International). As the producer (a young guy who, along with his partner, had a great success before with "Beyond Silence" which was nominated for best foreign film at the Oscars earlier this year, and should have won) said, the first weekend counts, so if you live in Germany, be there! He was sure that without the success of Beyond Silence, they couldn't have made 23. I'm glad they did! Don't miss it if it should be playing anywhere near you!
best, Mathias
