Into the Fade (Fatih Akin, 2017): Germany | France

Reviewed by: Juliana Carbon Viewed at: AFI FEST 2017

If you’re looking for a film to intrigue you, sadden you, inform you, as well as wildly entertain you for a couple of hours, then Into the Fade is exactly what you’re looking for. Fatih Akin’s Into the Fade ushers viewers directly into the life of a young and loving couple, opening with a handheld camcorder shot of loving family memories shared between Katja, portrayed by Diane Kruger, and Nuri, played by Numan Acar. From its intimate beginning to its completely unsettling following sequence, this movie offers a new look into the reality of hate and racism surrounding certain aspects of the German population in the modern day, specifically focusing on interracial marriage between German and Turkish people. I find this topic of racism and xenophobia to be extremely relevant in the world today, not only in Germany but all over the world, making this a must see piece. The film’s style of intimate cinematography and powerful close ups coupled with more powerful music and an even more powerful storyline makes for an amazing film that keeps you on the edge of your seat and at the edge of tears throughout its runtime.

In the story, a massive life change in the life of Katja, the female protagonist of the story, changes her world forever and allows the viewers to experience her emotions as she feels them and follow her every step and she follows the grieving process of her great loss. The viewers witness the harsh reality of trial in the justice system and watch as Katja’s life slips from her grasp into something she doesn’t recognize. The editing of this film really stood out to me, from breaking it into three parts, (family, justice, and the sea), to the ability of slowing versus speeding through time. The documentarian background of the director and writer, Fatih Akin, really shines with intimate unplanned moments of the film that are spontaneously beautiful and manage to match the storyline perfectly and integrally, such as the small bird fighting itself in the side mirror of the trailer that Katja has to make a life changing decision around. Diane Kruger’s first German film really stands as a testament to her ability as an actress as well, since a lot of the storytelling of the film utilizes her emotions rather than dialogue to further the story.

Into the fade was one of my personal favorite films at all of AFI and was completely worth watching in my opinion. From the dynamic storyline to the mastery of Diane Kruger herself, it truly was enthralling until its final moments. It was one of those films that left you sitting in your seat awestruck for several moments as the credits roll along the screen, a feeling highly sought after and rarely achieved.


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