"Falling Rocks" is (despite the title) a German German-language film from the year 2000. The director is Austrian though (Peter Keglevic) and so is the most known actor in here. No offense to Michelsen, Dobra or Hennicke, but 99% of the people looking for this film today do so because it includes Christoph Waltz, another Austrian, about a decade before his huge successes in Hollywood. Waltz actually worked with Keglevic on quite a few projects. But back to this one here: The cast includes actors from several European countries, so it is a bit of a multi-cultural endeavor. And while this is far from a perfect film, it has many good, even some great moments. These are all connected to the thriller component. You really don't get many quality thriller films from Germany these days sadly, but this one (if we don't count it as Austrian) fits the description. I was curious if Waltz character was the killer or what the secret behind these diamonds really is. Yes the film goes a bit over the top at times during its 1.5 hours in trying to become even more entertaining and significant as there are other moments making up for it. It's never really a mediocre film, it's either very strong or rather weak I would say, sadly some of the actors are also off the mark at times. The location (South African desert) also gives the film a nice atmospheric touch. As a whole, it is not as great as "Tag der Abrechnung", another Keglevic/Waltz collaboration, but it comes close at times and is still a convincing outcome at times. Also always refreshing to see filmmakers not scared of unhappy, but realistic endings. I have a feeling this was more common in the 1990s and many filmmakers from this generation can learn a lot from Keglevic, not just about endings, not just about this film, but about movie making in general. "Falling Rocks" gets a thumbs-up. It's not easy at all these days to find this film, but if you do, then give it a go because I enjoyed it for the most part and I hope so will you.
Review of Falling Rocks
