ANTIBODIES (2005)

This is the first subtitled German film I’ve ever seen, and if others are as good as this one then I can see myself asking Vaughan to pass more in my direction. This is the story of a countryside cop and a serial killer. After a spate of vicious child murders throughout the country, the perpetrator (André Hennicke) is captured and arrested and taken to a cell to be held and questioned. In the cops (Wotan Wilke Möhring) local village there was a young girl killed and the murderer never brought to justice, but after the arrest of this man, the villagers assume that the culprit has finally been apprehended and that they can now start to get their lives back on track. However, even with all the evidence the local policeman is still not convinced that the true offender has been caught and wants to continue questioning the locals. This makes him rather unpopular with the neighbours, especially with his spiteful father in law, who strongly believes that no-one in the village could possibly have committed the crime and refuses to help whenever he is asked.
The story really starts to pick up pace when the self confessed murderer calls for the cop to discuss the young girls murder. From the first moment they meet, he killer denies the murder of the girl but says that he does know who did it, this is where the story takes on a bit of a Silence of the Lambs feel, with the killer feeding the cop snippets of information and playing with his head, making him doubt himself and his beliefs. Couple this with the local big city cops and their somewhat dubious morals and the life of the simple country bumpkin becomes ever more complex.

Due to the subject matter of the story I found the movie quite disturbing. Using children as victims never sits very well in the mind (apart from if you’re watching a film like Jurassic Park where you are willing the young’uns to get ripped to shreds) especially in this situation as it's something that could, and has, happened. One thing I especially liked was the films restraint when it came to the visually graphic. Don't get me wrong, there was some blood, but it wasn’t overly utilised (after the first few minutes anyway) so all the nasty images are created in your minds eye and not by the visual effects supervisor. I suppose in a way it goes some distance to help you empathise with the hero as his world starts to slowly crumble as his mind begins to warp.

The acting was top notch. The ‘ Hannibal’ character was played fantastically and he made my skin crawl, especially in the first few scenes after his capture. As for the farmer/police officer, he was spiralling towards lunacy in a way that really made me feel for him, especially during the stapler scene, but I’ll leave you to discover that one yourself. All in all the cast were great, even the children, and I wouldn’t mind seeing any of them in films again. I do have one question though: What was the deal with the deer?
Tartan's DVD presentation is pretty much as expected with the original trailer and some interviews with the cast and crew to help pad out the special features section. But also included is something entitled ‘B-Roll’. This is a behind the scenes montage of footage taken by someone on set with a handheld camera. So, to put it simply, there are no fantastic or original sections to the Extras. However, I feel that I should note that there is no English dubbing to be found on the DVD, but a DTS soundtrack and English subtitles pleased my eyes and ears.