I've seen the film for the first time on DVD. First of all, it had a very poor technical quality on DVD, the yellow seemed faded, leaving over-strong blue and red images. I don't know if this is a technical mistake or if the movie was planned that way. At any rate, it felt old and amateurish because of that. My main problem was the story, though. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know how much is due to it. But even then, I would have expected from a filmmaker the range of Doris Dörrie to apply some well-known techniques to raise suspense and build character. But she didn't. Most of the dialogue was weak, referring only to the situation at hand. A considerable flaw is the fact that we see everything from the point of view of the protagonist - he leaves the room, we leave with him, not knowing what the person inside does next. It would have created more suspense, I believe, if the audience would have learned more about all the characters. Then, maybe we'd also have cared more about the murdered men and their family. The protagonist himself seems not to care too much about other persons - at the very beginning, a woman leaves him on his birthday; he never comments on that, neither showing regrets or maybe even happiness to be rid of her. His own sad family history is repeated several times, but never in a way that would give us insight into his character. The Turkish family seems an odd construction, made only for the sake of the criminal case. The rendering of the policemen is uninteresting, it isn't in the least shocking to see that they're the real criminals. One would think that, having managed to kill so many people, they wouldn't leave this snoop alive. Did we learn anything about Turkish life in Germany? Nope. Only clichés about how insensitive the Germans are. The only reason I give more than one point is Meret Becker, here being seen at the beginning of her career, playing a young woman with genuine despair and tenderness. There are more good actors in the film, but they don't get the chance to display their talent.
Review of Happy Birthday, Türke!
