The State I Am In (film)
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The State I Am In
| image = Die innere Sicherheit.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Christian Petzold
| producer = {{ubl|Florian Koerner von Gustorf|Michael Weber}}
| writer = {{ubl|Harun Farocki|Christian Petzold}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|Julia Hummer|Barbara Auer|Richy Müller|Bilge Bingül|Katharina Schüttler|Bernd Tauber}}
| music = Stefan Will
| cinematography = Hans Fromm
| editing = Bettina Böhler
| studio = {{ubl|Schramm Film|Hessischer Rundfunk|Arte}}
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|2000|9|1|Venice Film Festival|2001|2|1|Germany|df=y}}
| runtime = 106 minutes
| country = Germany
| language = German
| budget =
| gross =
}}
The State I Am In ({{langx|de|Die innere Sicherheit}}) is a 2000 German drama film directed by Christian Petzold.
Plot
Fifteen-year-old Jeanne lives in Portugal with her parents, Hans and Clara, who are former members of a left-wing terrorist group.{{cite web |title=The State I Am In (2000) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248103/|publisher=IMDb |access-date=9 November 2021}} When their true identities are uncovered, they flee the country to seek shelter back in their native Germany. As Hans and Clara contend with their own relationship issues and seek safe haven through the help of former comrades, Jeanne begins to pose a threat to their immediate safety with her rebellious actions: shoplifting, sneaking into a film showing at a local school, and pursuing a relationship with a boy she met on the beach in Portugal.
Cast
- Julia Hummer as Jeanne
- Barbara Auer as Clara
- Richy Müller as Hans
- Rogério Jacques as Dieb
- Günther Maria Halmer as Klaus
- Bilge Bingul as Heinrich
Production
Petzold and co-writer Harun Farocki reportedly took inspiration from the life of Wolfgang Grams, a former member of the Red Army Faction.{{cite web |title=The State I Am In (Die Innere Sicherheit) |url=https://www.screendaily.com/the-state-i-am-in-die-innere-sicherheit/406127.article|website=Screen Daily |access-date=9 November 2021}} They initially began writing the script in 1997, but struggled to find funding due to the portrayal of former members of the RAF. They were advised to remove these aspects of the plot in order to secure funding.{{cite web |title=Film Is A Work Like Any Other: Talking with Christian Petzold and Christoph Hochhäusler |url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/film-is-a-work-like-any-other-talking-with-christian-petzold-and-christoph-hochhausler |publisher=MUBI |access-date=9 November 2021}}
The State I Am In forms a loose trilogy with Petzold's later films Gespenster and Yella. Some have noted the plot's similarity to Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty.{{cite web |title=The State I Am In (2000) - Trivia |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248103/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv |publisher=IMDb |access-date=9 November 2021}}
Themes
Petzold has stated that the film is, in part, his criticism of cinema for being incapable of dealing with contemporary issues, which is reflected in the initial issues with finding funding. Much of the plot is concerned with the family being on the run as a result of political actions from two decades prior, and how German society has changed in the intervening period. In one scene, a character digs up a buried cache of outdated Deutsche Marks, no longer legal tender following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and he dismisses them as a "history lesson".{{cite web |title=The State I Am In (2000) - Trivia |url=https://inreviewonline.com/2021/05/31/the-state-i-am-in/ |website=In Review |date=31 May 2021 |access-date=9 November 2021}} In one scene, Jeanne joins a school group watching Alain Resnais's Holocaust documentary Night and Fog. The lack of response from the class, along with Jeanne's disinterest in her parents' cause, has been read as a comment on German culture's disengagement with politics.
Reception
The film won the awards for best film and best editing at the German Film Critics Association Awards.{{cite web |title=The State I Am In (2000) awards & festivals on MUBI |url=https://mubi.com/films/the-state-i-am-in/awards |publisher=MUBI |access-date=9 November 2021}} It also won best screenplay at the Thessaloniki and grand prize at Valenciennes film festivals.{{cite web |title=The State I am in |url=https://www.the-match-factory.com/catalogue/films/the-state-i-am-in.html |publisher=The Match Factory |access-date=9 November 2021}}
It received generally positive reviews on release. Writing in Variety, David Stratton described it as "a modest but potent suspense drama that realistically depicts an off-kilter way of life."{{cite web |title=The State I Am In |url=https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/the-state-i-am-in-1200464840/ |website=Variety |date=9 October 2000 |access-date=9 November 2021}} Andreas Kern of Screen Daily wrote that Petzold's "subtle and quietly approach hits home in a no nonsense way by dissecting the lives of his protagonists." The Guardian{{'s}} Andrew Pulver was more mixed in his review from the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival, noting that the film "is laudable on many levels" but ultimately "what makes the film hard going...is the way it asks us to spend 100 minutes in the company of such resolutely unlikable individuals."{{cite news |title=The State I Am In |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/aug/24/edinburghfestival2001.edinburghfestival4 |website=The Guardian |date=23 August 2001 |access-date=9 November 2021|last1=Pulver |first1=Andrew }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0248103|title=The State I Am In}}
{{Christian Petzold}}
{{German Film Award for Best Film}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:State I Am In}}
Category:2000s German-language films
Category:Films directed by Christian Petzold
Category:Cultural depictions of the Red Army Faction