* * * 1/2
Like last year’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Germany’s Foreign Language Film Oscars entry – and winner of that category at the Golden Globes – is about a woman seeking justice for a devastating crime against her family. It differs substantially in tone; Three Billboards is, essentially, a black comedy, while In The Fade has not a single deliberate (nor unintended) moment of humour. It also differs in impact: Three Billboards left me unmoved, but In The Fade, by focusing intensely on the protagonist’s grief before moving on to her anger and ultimately her quest, deals in honest emotion.
It is divided neatly in three acts, given chapters: The Family, Justice, and The Sea. The first act is a drama of grief, the second a drama of the courtroom, the third a thriller. This rigid construction is deeply apparent throughout the film; it is rigorous, taut and, despite its intense subject matter, restrained.
Diane Kruger rules the film, appearing not just in every scene but almost every shot. She won the Best Actress prize at Cannes and she should have won the Oscar rather than Frances McDormand for the equivalent, but vastly lesser, role in Three Billboards. Kruger’s journey includes the immediate aftermath of the crime, and the first third of the film is a portrait of a woman drowning in grief. It is impeccably acted, and the whole film honours Kruger’s deep commitment. Rather incredibly, this is her first film in her native German, despite 48 acting credits – most in English, many in French – and 15 international awards. She’s superb, and reason enough to see the film.