his debut narrative feature by Nora Fingscheidt is as bold and
confrontational as its subject. Coming from a documentary
background, the director carried out considerable research into ‘system
crashers,’ a label given to children who bounce from home to home and
generally fall through the cracks of Germany’s foster system. Nine-year-
old Benni (Helena Zengel) is one such child. The film is frenetic and
visceral, with a score by John Gürtler that’s as intense and overflowing
with energy as Benni – her screams often match the clashing cymbals on
the soundtrack, resulting in a symphony of rage. When she lashes out, her
violence is often jarring to witness, but Fingscheidt’s lens is never on the
side of judgement. In fact, she doesn’t take sides at all in the tricky web that
entangles our heroine. The director doesn’t seek to place blame on child
services, their employees, Benni’s mother or Benni herself. It is simply the
story of a child who wants to be wanted.
Zengel is raw and captivating in the lead. Her magnetic blue eyes
effortlessly engender empathy, though she’s certainly not scared of
confrontation. However, it becomes increasingly difficult to watch helplessly
as those in charge of her care do their best, while more obstacles are created
as her fits of violent fury are directed at other children. As the trials Benni
faces become cyclical, we’re left to wonder what emotional toll this is
taking on the staff. Fingscheidt exemplifies this through contemplative
moments such as desperate glances between carers, or Benni bombarding
her new school escort with trivial questions like, “What’s your favourite
colour?” – all important information to a nine-year-old. Albrecht Schuch
delivers a tender performance as the patient and understanding Micha,
the person on the receiving end of Benni’s sweet interrogation. He, like so
many others, remains quietly frustrated he can’t do more for this lost child.
MILLICENT THOMAS
ANTICIPATION. A narrative debut from a
documentary maker is intriguing in its own right.
ENJOYMENT. An tender and visceral
film that leaves knots in your chest.
IN RETROSPECT. Crafted with heaps of heart,
well worth seeking out.
an you trust anything that a magician does?” This is the
crucial query posed to director Ben Berman midway through
his film about one. It sets off a series of second-guesses that threaten to
collapse his project. Doubting his own integrity as well as the honesty
of his principal subject, he starts to question not just the direction that
his own film is taking, but the validity of his entire professional field.
What does it mean to adopt a way of working where the best outcome
is often a bad one, and the fastest route to reaching results is rarely the
most righteous?
Berman’s focus is John Szeles, an American magician who made a
lot of money off a gross-out act in the ’80s. Now drug-dependent, out of
work and terminally ill, he stages a comeback tour to cash in on the fact
that – having outlasted his initial prognosis – he might die on stage at
any moment. It’s a grimly comic situation and, unsurprisingly, Berman
isn’t the only one interested in documenting it.
Given that The Amazing Johnathan Documentary is a film shaped
around a series of compellingly staged and structured surprises, to say
any more about the route it takes would undermine its desired effect. As
with similarly slippery, twisty-turny pop-doc meta-exercises as Tickled
and Three Identical Strangers, little about this story is as it first seems.
What separates it from those films are its subversions of the
conventions of the sort of standard doc-biopic it initially positions
itself as. It exposes the volatility and unreliability of documentary
filmmaking by making it a plot point. By underscoring his
manipulations, indulgences and ethical oversights as a filmmaker,
Berman manages to create something smarter and funnier
than the film he set out to make. His subject might disagree.
MATT TURNERANTICIPATION.
Magic. Meth. Mayhem. It’s a bit of fun.ENJOYMENT. Twists and turns, sleights-
of-hand, reminders to remain skeptical.IN RETROSPECT. A daft, dazzling exercise in reflexivity,
albeit a somewhat familiar one.The Amazing Johnathan
Documentary
Directed by BENJAMIN BERMAN
Starring THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN, ERIC ANDRÉ,
BENJAMIN BERMAN
Released 19 NOVEMBER“C
System Crasher
Directed by NORA FINGSCHEIDT
Starring HELENA ZENGEL, ALBRECHT SCHUCH,
GABRIELA MARIA SCHMEIDE
Released 6 DECEMBERT
066 REVIEW