Short Sharp Shock (1998)

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"Kurz und schmerzlos" or "Short Sharp Shock" is a German movie from almost 20 years ago and the language in here is German for the most part too with occasional exceptions doing justice to the characters' origins. Writer and director Faith Akin was only 25 when this one came out and after some short film work, it was his very first full feature film. Taking that into account, it is a decent effort I guess, but as a whole I was not convinced. The characters were not as interesting as I hoped they would be (apart from the breathtakingly sexy Idil Üner) and the effort this movie makes on an emotional level in terms of love and friendship also never really touched me. I cannot really put a finger on what exactly caused this as the acting was decent from start to finish. Maybe it was just me.However, generally I like crime dramas/thrillers, but this one here did not feel right to me. I also wonder how police was absent from start to finish with everything that happened in here. Akin already works with actors that would keep appearing in his films throughout his entire career. Moritz Bleibtreu, however, was not present yet. Two years later, Akin made "Im Juli." and this is when the two collaborated for the first time. But back to this one: Akin himself also has a minor role in here and it's not too uncommon that he also acts in his own works, at least back then it was. All in all the plot never had me at the edge of my seat, maybe also because I somewhat disliked Kurtulus' character and that surely wasn't intended. The negative outweighs the positive and that is why I do not recommend "Kurz und schmerzlos". Thumbs down.

"Kurz und schmerzlos" means as much as "quickly and smoothly" and is a German underground drama by young Turkish film maker Fatih Akin. Shot in the suburbs and industrial area of Hamburg, Akin's home town, it was a big hit in German repertory cinemas in 1999.The film shows the life and fate of three young foreigners - Turk Gabriel, Greek Costa and Serb Bobby, all of them dreaming of love and money in the bleak surroundings of social welfare, crimes, industry, unemployment and cultural minorities. Of course it won't take long until the friendship of the three outsiders is about to break apart when Gabriel becomes a henchman for a local gangster boss, and a journey through violence and despair begins for all three of them...There are no special effects, no visual games, there is just pure "adrenaline acting" - except for Ralf Herforth ("Knocking on Heaven's Door") as gangster boss Muhamer, all actors are unknown newcomers, but with a great impact and brilliant performances. There is much realistic violence in it than can be felt in every second, and you really need to watch out for some contemporary American or Japanese underground stuff to find something similar. And the sound track is very good, too.But the movie shows also the social milieu and the problems of national minorities in a Western country like in the works of British film maker Hanif Kureishi ("My Beautiful Laundrette"). Watch out for this example for great contemporary German cinema, and although "Kurz und schmerzlos" avoids all the visual styling of "Lola rennt", it has the same impact and power like that international box office hit!

the movie is about a turkish guy who gets out of prison and sees himself tangled up in the same situations that he lived before, with his best friends stealing and dealing, only this time he himself has changed and has a very differentiated view of the daily crime and violence.the story unfolds with an interesting plot always centering the 3 friends in their daily life and how suddenly their live changes quickly when things go more wrong than they ever did before.a great job by the director. the pictures are beautiful at the same time very authentic. the story always feels real even though it has a lot of extreme situations in it. the characters move as they are depicted closely and without unnecessary sentiments. overall an extremly entertaining movie that brings us close foreign cultures from right around the corner.

I don't think skinheads will love it -- the protagonist is a Turk. There are some unrealistic things in the movie (e.g. when Costas says Gabriel's sister -- who just left Costas -- "is a bitch" and Gabriel nearly does nothing, though it should have indignated his family's honour), but in the whole it is a good study of the milieu. I found my opinion shared by many young immigrants (Turkish, Libanese, Arabian).