"Systemsprenger" or "System Crasher" is a German theatrical movie from 2019 and actually, it is certainly among the most known German films from the 2010s. It reached a lot of success. For example, here at the German Film Awards not too long ago, it won 3 out of 4 acting prizes (including the two lead ones),also won for screenplay, for direction and finally also succeeded for Best Picture. Long before that already, this movie got selected to represent Germany at the 2020 Oscars. It made the shortlist of nine, but failed to become an actual nominee, probably not too surprising given the story because German films usually do best in America when there is a historic element involved. The writer and director is Nora Fingscheidt, also still a relatively young filmmaker, easily under the age of 40, born one year before me, and this is only her second "real" credit. "Real" in this context means we exclude short films and documentaries, but even if we count full feature documentaries, then it is still only her third movie. So, not a highly experienced filmmaker, but given her age, this is not a surprise at all.

"Age" is a good keyword here because you already see the girl on the photo here played by Helena Zengel and she is the system crasher and also the one who won a German Film Award for Lead Actress and that is quite an achievement given her young age. She was slightly over 10 when her name got announced and her character in this movie is even younger. This success for Zengel made waves abroad too and the consequence is that she will play a major part in the next Tom Hanks movie, so even an international breakthrough is perhaps coming for her now. I will be really curious to see where Zengel's career is heading in the next years, actually decades, and what is in store for her. Difficult to imagine that she will not continue as a full-time actress. Many child actors leave the industry and go for normal jobs like the ones you and me have, but that is mostly because of lack of demand and I don't think Zengel will have to worry about that anytime soon. Her male co-lead here is Albrecht Schuch. He may not be as much of a lead as the child character in this film, but I agree with him being lead and he is really having a massive year as he won not only one German Film Award, but took home a second as well. I think Laura Tonke managed the same a few years ago for the two actress categories and now it was Schuch's term. Schmeide (still reminds me of Erika (or the actress) from "Stromberg") won for Supporting Actress and well, maybe a bit too much, a nomination just like for Hagmeister would have been enough, but I guess Schmeide had that crying scene (with the girl giving her solace) working in her favor. I think this scene was more memorable for how it was written with the real victim there being the girl and yet she does not fully realize that.

Now, I am already quite a bit into the story, so I will continue with some brainstorming about moments and scenes that stayed in my mind. Actually, I think this is not the easiest movie to review because not a whole lot happened here. It was basically a back and forth of one scene with the girl going fully crazy and the next scene with the girl having calmed down and being more on the harmonic side combined with Schuch's character's approach and how he manages to make a connection with the girl. But this mix of escalation and calmness (before the storm again) worked well nonetheless and as the movie is even over two hours long, that is pretty impressive. There are not a whole lot of characters here, it's a fairly simple premise and reminded me a bit of "Victoria" at times, even if the stories are obviously entirely different, but there are parallels and not just that "Victoria" also dominated the German Film Awards a few years ago. As for Schuch, he played his part really well here. His struggles about how he let the girl get too close to him felt authentic and his maybe most memorable moment is also his final scene when we see him stop and realize that he cannot save her, that he has to let her go as she runs into the forest. High time he realized in fact with his own child being slightly at risk before that. You could not know what would happen. Something tragic? This would have meant for the spiral of violence to be taken to the next level. First, she slightly hurts the girl at the school when she is mocked by her, then she hurts the other boy from the woman taking care of her. Anyway, that scene in which she holds the kid was also in the trailer I think. Yep, it was. Had to think briefly because it has been a long time since the trailer aired, long before corona, and actually this movie here is not even shown anymore in German theaters, but today they gave it to audiences one more time at the open air theater and audiences clearly thanked them for that because it was really full.

Some more stuff I remember: The final scene with the girl (Benni) running wildly from everybody at the airport and even if she was maybe a bit too fast to be realistic, it was still nice to see her go all-in with a bright smile on her lips. This was one moment when I understood how really many people were seemingly won over very quickly by Benni. She has a lot of passion wiith her aggression. Not just Schuch's character, but also her mother, the other woman who took care of her, Schmeide's character and also Schuch's character's partner quickly develops a liking in the girl. So there is a great deal of positivity here. And at the same time, I am glad they did not go for a truly happy ending. Or actually, you can even say it is maybe an unhappy ending and wonder what the girl will be like once she returns from Africa. I had no idea this is what they do with children struggling so hard. Also, it is a pretty tragic film at times. Just take the background story with the diaper that certainly has an impact on how Benni acts in the now. Or when she is put in the locker by her mom's lover and cannot get out. Or when her mom says that she will not take her despite saying otherwise before.

Still, there are uplifting moments here and there, for example when she calls the anti-violent coach Micha for the first time (how he wants to be called) and you realize she has respect for him and does not see him as an antagonist anymore because he is in charge of (i.e. to blame for) getting her to school. Or what I found as maybe the most uplifting moment at the end was the scene with the dog. Sure, you could wonder how the two are this close immediately after they had a "conflict" earlier and were literally barking at each other, but this scene implies that maybe a therapy that involves animals can be of help for the girl and her mental state because they perhaps soothe her. The owls are another example. She seems to like them. Also, overall, it is impossible for me to not recommend this movie because the attention to detail is pretty good from beginning to end. Just take a look at the poster here on imdb. There you see already that pink is a dominant color and, at the same time, it is a strong contrast to the girl and her behavior because she really feels more like a boy many times. And of course to her name too. She feels her real name Bernadette is too girly and that is why she wants to be called Benni. Overall, one of the better films on the subject of the protagonist being victim and perpetrator at the same time. I would not say it is among my favorite German movies from recent years, but it is good enough to be seen once and we can be curious what the young cast and crew have in store for us in the coming years. Their combined effort here gets a thumbs-up from me. Go check it out and pay attention to how attention, on several occasions, is a factor in this film and how the girl is longing for it and how she reacts if it is not given to her. That would be all. Watch.

Some things are tough to rate and watch. Seeing a troubled teen, who especially at the beginning but generally speaking is cursing a lot and does things that I would consider rude to put it mildly, is not an easy thing to do. But if you can overlook that harsh "reality" and get a sense of the underlying theme and criticism the movie gives us, you will find a lot of things to like.

Still this is anything but an easy watch, no matter what you think of our main character. It also is quite the example of overall good acting in a german movie. A couple of smaller roles excluded this is top notch and feels as real as it can be. If you are up for the challenge go ahead, but you've been warned. This is not a feel good movie as you can tell right from the very start

02/25/2020 Any viewer with a heart will be drawn into this movie almost immediately. Their empathy and compassion for a broken and constantly abandoned 9 year old girl will make them her emotional victim as they are drawn further and further into her world of loss. Emersion into the storyline will have you wanting/hoping/needing to help this out-of-control, seemingly helpless beautiful child who has been abandoned, over and over by the adults in her short life, those who continually profess to love, protect and care for her. They fail miserably. You'll be drawn even deeper as it winds down to the point that you'll want to get in your car and bring her home so you can love and protect her and maybe? she can finally be happy and normal for once in her young short life? It's really heart breaking, terribly profound as you helplessly watch. This young actress ( Helena Zengel) is already exquisite in her craft of acting. This is not just a really great movie, it is "The Best Movie" that I have ever watched. So well done, that it plays more like a documentary than a film of fiction. If it doesn't tug hard at your heart strings, it's because there is nothing to grab hold of. Do NOT pass this wonderfully written, directed and acted movie by, it's a guaranteed rock solid gold winner. It's what we are always looking for and seldom find. Bon Appetit'

04/19/2020 ADDENDUM: Wiki Partial Movie Bio: Development: System Crasher is Nora Fingscheidt's first feature film as director and writer. Her attention was first drawn to the theme while filming the documentary Das Haus Neben den Gleisen (2014) with Simone Gaul, which depicts life in a refuge for homeless women in Stuttgart. Among the women Fingsheidt met there was a fourteen-year-old girl, who as a system crasher was no longer accepted by any institution in the youth welfare service. Fingscheidt wrote the screenplay after five years of research during which she lived or worked in residential groups, in a school for educational support, an emergency accommodation center and a child psychiatry unit. She talked to staff at institutions and agencies as well as child and youth psychologists. Fingscheidt says she made System Crasher to raise awareness of severely traumatized children like Benni. It was a conscious decision to choose a nine-year-old girl with no background of migration and before the onset of puberty as the central figure, even though the majority of system crashers are boys. It was so that she "could keep away from clichés and rash categorizations" like the pubescent rebellion of a fourteen-year-old and similar imputations of gender or ethnicity.