VIFF 2020: Merkel - Anatomy of a Crisis
VIFF 2020Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis, directed by Stephan Wagner, is both a mixed bag and an underwhelming case study of power and morals in a world in which politicians have more of the former than the latter.
It is in a similar vein to Costa-Gavras' Greek political drama Adults in the Room which is touched upon in this feature. Wagner's film suffers the same issues and, ultimately, the same fate of discussing an incredibly interesting topic without much fanfare. Granted, the cinematic biopic political world is never a roaring genre but, nevertheless, when done in a satirical or melodramatic manner such as House of Cards and The West Wing, or an action-oriented sleaze fest such as Gerard Butler’s Olympus Has Fallen series, the financial/viewing returns are usually far more generous.
From the get-go, Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis, has everything against it: a discussion on a drawn-out political message years after the fact, a less than accurate and factual story and a gargantuan amount of material to get through in under one-hundred and twenty minutes. On every aforementioned issue that Wagner's feature faces, it fails to conquer.
The political context present, at this point in time, is a whopping five years late. Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis does nothing to present this time and space in either an engaging or interesting manner. The film does occasionally perk the viewers' interest in the titular character but, overall, the film is condensing not a singular moment in time but an erratic and critical era of issues. This results in multiple issues. Firstly, the pace is far too electric for its own good. In having to cover such a momentous amount of history and detail, the feature gets utterly lost with what specific story it wants to tell; in wanting to tell the 'real story', Wagner's film opens up any and all secondary narrative/sub-plots without coming full circle. Not only does it all become convoluted and hard to follow, but the film never pauses for reflection and the imagery and emotive response never really hits home and/or feels layered.
This then opens up the sheer amount of secondary characters. There is arguably 10-15 supports and up to double that overall, and the film becomes messy in its flow and connection. The sheer amount of new characters who drop in with an on-screen status tag is relentless and, before long, becomes nigh on impossible to follow. An attribute that, again, reinforces the sheer level of convoluted material present.
This again leads to further issues, namely the execution of aesthetic and an edit that tries to balance the pacing issues and sizeable cast list. The aesthetic, for one, is quite strong from cinematographer, Thomas Benesch. The director of photography does not have a great deal of iconography to work with aside from boring and mundane office suites and vehicle interior. However, it never looks boring per se, just inspired.
The aesthetic, however, goes one step further. Instead of a constant cutting back and forth, of which is ninety-or-so per cent of the film, the feature implements a split-screen effect that looks both horrific and is jarring to behold. It is a strange and ambitious filmmaking element that has the greatest intention but is trying to fix a far greater issue by a surface level approach. Furthermore, the edit is far too dramatic and excessive for its own good. Almost dipping its toes into farcical and satirical The Thick of It territory and not the compelling dramatic poignancy it wants to covey.
Nevertheless, the strongest aspect to Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis is its lead performance from Imogen Kogge as the titular namesake. Kogge is fascinating as Merkel. The mannerism and sheer doppelganger look are near enough perfection in imitation, but Kogge is able to add that extra edge and humility on screen as this emotionally elusive political icon. Multiple scenes, quite specifically crafted, it might be added, are present to showcase the emotional and morality conscious chancellor.
The performance from Imogen Kogge is sadly not enough to keep this feature from going under and, all in all, by not adding anything worthy of depth and insight, Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis reads like a bullet point Wikipedia page, and ultimately leads to an anti-climactic fluff piece.
