Die vierte Gewalt (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good general idea, weak execution in detail

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 21 September 2017]

"Die vierte Gewalt" is a German small screen movie from one year ago and this one aired for the first time back in August 2016. Director Bertele is making films for a decade already and writer Bitzer for twice as long, so there was more than just a solid deal of experience present in the making of this film. This also includes the cast as the likes of Fürmann, Weisz, Matthes, Masucci, Striesow, Trautmannsdorff, Triebel... are all really big names for a television film. Sadly the consequence of such a star-studded cast is also that several of them did not have the material in quality and quantity to make an impact that reflects their talent. It runs for 1.5 hours and focuses on the story of a reporter finding out about a minister using her power illegally to have a family mate received an organ donation more quickly than he should have. So the politician did something illegal, but only based on honorable motives. She obviously cannot be turned into a villain or antagonist and sadly they went for that on many occasions. A simple film about uncovering the truth is not enough for them, so they include death, fraud, secret informants, power obsession, all kinds of lies and dark horses, resignation and so on and so on, definitely way too much for this runtime, which makes the film feel quickly over the top and absurdly unrealistic. Spectacular for the sake of it, bu not for really making an impact. As for the cast, like I said many were wasted and I have been harsh on lead actor Fürmann in the past and I must be here too. Physically he really fits the role and his performance is relatively mediocre all in all with 3 or 4 occasions where he really misses out on giving an authentic portrayal. So yeah, if they had kept it simple and subtle, this could have been a really good film looking at the cast and very general plot idea. But it turned into a disappointment. hat else can you say. I hope to see more of the stunning Mercedes Müller soon and Oliver Masucci was a true scene stealer once again. It's such a pity he did not move into the spotlight long before his Hitler movie. He also resembles Mads Mikkelsen so much. But his film here is not worth seeing. Go for something else instead.