In the Fade (Faith Akin2017) Germany/ France

Reviewed by: Ellia Rodriguez Viewed at AFI Fest 2017.

This story is about a women’s haunting journey through the aftermath of terrorism. Diane Kruger plays  the film’s main character, Katja Sekerci, who is married to actor Numan Acar’s character, Nuri. They have a 6 year old son and they also own a business in the Turkish community in Germany. There was an extreme Nazi terrorist attack, targeting their family due to the fact that they are interracial. Katja has to deal with the aftermath of losing her husband and child, being questioned by authorities, accused, and also told that her husband is under suspicion. Katja goes through a complete emotional transformation in this film.

Director Fatih Akin brings this tragic and suspenseful story to film. Akin, also the co-writer for this film, provides his own input. The flim’s characters  were, like Akin, from a Turkish and German mixed family. He himself, is of Turkish heritage and his family moved to Germany prior to his birth. Faith was born in 1973, in Hamburg Germany.

Family is a major theme throughout the film. There were many significant moments in the movie, but one in particular stood out. The scene where Katja’s sister visits and had a baby while Katja is dealing with the loss of her own child.  During this time, Katja gets her period and comes to the realization that she is not pregnant. This means that she no longer has anything to live for. This is a pivotal scene that leads to the decisions she makes towards the end of the movie. I personally reflected on how the sister was starting a new family while Katja’s was lost.

The film goes through many emotional transitions, from a happy wedding to devastation due to losing her loved ones. She tries to numb her pain with drugs and afterwards she is questioned about everything in her life, including the integrity of her dead husband. Afterqards she finds out who was clearly involved with the terrorist attack and is hopeful that justice will prevail. However, she is crushed by anguish when the courts decide in favor of the Nazis. She then becomes determined to see justice done personally, but at the last second decides against it. Finally, she makes a clear decision that leaves a clear and shocking ending to this drama. Overall, hate crimes seem to be a part of the normal worldview that the characters live in.

The only time that music is present is as non-diegetic. It only seemed to be played during the times in which the main character was in deep thought about the deaths of her loved ones. It added an angered and vengeful tone to the film. During these sequences there is also an intense contrast in lighting and color use. The colors are in hues of purples, blues, and bright neon lights. All betray her tragic mood, but results in giving life to a new woman.

In conclusion, Katja’s life is put through a horrendous and moving transition. This ends up happening in every faucet of her life; her family is murdered, her belief in the justice system is crushed, she returns to substance abuse to deal with her issues, and her moral belief system was forever changed. Diane Kruger gave a truly amazing performance. She portrays this crazy emotional transition well. I found this film definitely worth the time to explore.