A Strong Debut

Review of Short Sharp Shock (1998) by nezzkobdamned: 👍 7.3/10

Hadn't watched a Fatih Akin film until now, but MUBI has several of his films and they all sound so intriguing.

So rather than go with the most appealing one, I felt that starting with Akin's debut would be a true test of my curiosity.

And it was well rewarded. This crime thriller hits so many predictable beats of the crime genre, yet the strongest thing about it is the dynamic between three criminal friends and their changing attitudes to living that life.

Nobody is perfect or morally righteous, and Akin taps into the underutilised idea of bad friendships dragging you into bad situations over and over again.

Again, its hardly an original crime story but the character work, which showcases the diversity of Hamburg without being trite, makes for a strong debut.