"Zivilcourage" tells the story of a bookshop owner in Berlin, who one day becomes whitness how a young immigrant beats a senior into coma. After he calls the police, friends and brother of the suspect begin to threaten him, should he not pull back his testimony. Desperately, the man is looking for a way to save himself and his family.
The really strong point of this movie is that it creates a horrible situation, where it is nearly impossible to say how the viewer himself would react in such a moral dilemma. It is a film that doesn't end with the credits but leaves you searching for answers. This quality hides the fact that apart from that it is not a really great movie. Clearly the producers have very stereotypical ideas of multi-ethnical quarters and youth culture. On top of that some of the characters are quite unrealistic, like the daughter that shows absolutely zero support or understanding or the police that is depicted quite harshly.
All in all this is an important film but it would have suited the production well to get rid of some of the stereotypes and invest into a more detailled and believable character design.
The really strong point of this movie is that it creates a horrible situation, where it is nearly impossible to say how the viewer himself would react in such a moral dilemma. It is a film that doesn't end with the credits but leaves you searching for answers. This quality hides the fact that apart from that it is not a really great movie. Clearly the producers have very stereotypical ideas of multi-ethnical quarters and youth culture. On top of that some of the characters are quite unrealistic, like the daughter that shows absolutely zero support or understanding or the police that is depicted quite harshly.
All in all this is an important film but it would have suited the production well to get rid of some of the stereotypes and invest into a more detailled and believable character design.