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Kamikaze 1989

Kamikaze ʼ89
Retrospective 2017
© Ziegler Film / Ursula Röhnert
In 1989, West Germany is a country that has been “pacified” both politically and socially; public opinion is dictated entirely by a single media conglomerate. When the company’s high-rise headquarters faces a bomb threat, police detective Jansen is called in to investigate. While questioning the executives and employees, he learns of a mysterious 31st floor in the building. What is the relationship between the hidden storey’s residents and an opposition group that uses the nom de guerre “Krysmopompas”? ... Video equipment is ubiquitous in this garish science-fiction farce. The detective in his leopard-print suit carries a tape recorder in a shoulder case and wears a ring with a built-in camera. The intentionally “grungy” visuals were the basis of a new-wave aesthetic that also encompassed colourful neon lights, a sound collage including transmissions from the Apollo space missions and buildings that represented West German “concrete brutalism”. The film unites those elements into a contemporary “no future” atmosphere. Co-writer Robert Katz said, “Rainer Werner Fassbinder as Jansen embodies the kamikaze’s lack of any future. And the absence of a future, in turn, signifies the absence of a message”.
by Wolf Gremm
with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Günther Kaufmann, Nicole Heesters, Brigitte Mira, Arnold Marquis, Richy Müller, Boy Gobert, Franco Nero Federal Republic of Germany 1982 German Colour Rating R12

With

  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder
  • Günther Kaufmann
  • Nicole Heesters
  • Brigitte Mira
  • Arnold Marquis
  • Richy Müller
  • Boy Gobert
  • Franco Nero

Crew

Director Wolf Gremm
Screenplay Robert Katz, Wolf Gremm adapted from the novel “Mord på 31:a våningen“ (1964) by Per Wahlöö
Cinematography Xaver Schwarzenberger
Editing Thorsten Näter
Music Edgar Froese, Tangerine Dream
Sound Gunther Kortwich
Art Director Horst Furcht, Roland Mabille
Costumes Barbara Naujok, Ursula Sonntag
Make-Up Barbara Naujok, Ursula Sonntag
Producers Regina Ziegler, Michael Boehme

Produced by

Regina Ziegler Filmproduktion/Trio-Film/Oase-Filmproduktion

Additional information

DCP: Ziegler Film, Berlin