This is in structure a fairly pulpy revenge tale. Katja has her husband and son stolen from her when a nail bombing destroys his office. She discovers who is responsible, sits through their trial at which justice is not done, and she tracks down the perpetrators afterwards to exact her revenge.
But the difference here is in execution and performance. Giving equal time to the grieving, the trial and to the revenge means this becomes a far more personal tale, told continuiously through the eyes of Diane Kruger's Katja. Kruger's often been a performer who I've dismissed as merely a screen beauty - in films like "Troy" and "National Treasure", she didn't get a chance to offer much more than simple surface charms. Here she gets a lot more meat to get into (and she's acting in her native German), and the consequences are something a lot more meaningful. Writer/Director Fatih Akin gives the film depth and strength - whether trawling in the depths of Katja's grief, in the brutally sterile battles of the courtroom, or in the combination of beautiful scenery and dark motives in a seaside Greek town for the finale. This understands the feeling and emotion that lives behind the pulpy surface, and serves it well. Recommended.
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