Some films have new plots. Not many I grant you but there are a few. The Stalker comes to mind. You don't get any clichés in these movies. But most films are old stories that have been told a hundred thousand times and you get nothing but scene after scene that you wished you had never seen the first time round. But here it is again with another actor on another set. The Albanian is a very old tale. Rags to riches. A humble Albanian makes his girlfriend pregnant and has to pay to get married. (The sooner Albania joins the EU the better.) But he is broke. So he goes to Berlin to work for the money. And then it is one old chestnut after another until he returns to his village to hand over the dowry. But too late. The baby has been born and so it is no dice for our handsome hero. And after all that. The hell that is Berlin. A life of crime. Crooked Poles. Sleeping rough. Being beaten half to death. Poor old Arben. And all for nothing. This movie was made in 2007. Before the feel good factor made a come back. What a pity. A final scene with Arben and his bride and baby cutting maize in the spring sun would have been more than welcome.
Review of Der Albaner
