Young criminals who are sent to the Alps to get better, i.e. from the crooked track to the steep hillside: there is a great risk of slipping. That is the basic idea of the German eight-parter Wild Republic, a so-called drama adventure series (co-produced by Magenta TV with Arte, WDR, SWR and One). What is introduced as an adventure-based, resocializing measure, with the option of escaping jail if you behave well, gets out of hand in the first episode when the local mountain guide lies dead in front of the tent camp. Was he murdered? Was it one of them?
The young criminals flee to a cave in the mountains
The young people have had relevant experiences with the police, they know what will follow in terms of suspicions and sanctions. In a panic, they flee to the high mountains and hide in a mystical cave where useful things are conveniently stored (we’ll find out why in the end). In the alpine wilderness they form a tribal community with their own rules and jurisdiction, including branding for each and every one. The motto: “Fucking restart!”
How do people behave in extreme extra-civilizational situations when they are confronted with nature, especially with their own? It is the popular experimental setup from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” Wild Republic once more varied. This is also an attractive social experiment in the mountains. It comes to the usual group dynamic processes, to the formation of pairs and parties, to outbreaks of violence and manipulation. The genre-typical war painting is also inevitable, it takes place after sufficient Magic Mushrooms enjoyment.
But all of this isn’t as blatant as you might expect or fear as a viewer. The passable screenplay (Arne Nolting, Jan Martin Scarf, Klaus Wolfertstetter), not geared towards action and excess, branches out in multiple tracks and tells in flashbacks about the past and the transgressions of the protagonists, some of whom were just unlucky. In each episode, one or the other is brought into focus, which gives them a profile.
The two darkest souls, Lindi (Maria Dragus) and Justin (Béla Gabor Lenz), team up.
(Photo: Luis Zeno Kuhn/WDR)
Another storyline focuses on the psychologist Lars Sellien (Franz Hartwig). The initiator of the resocialization experiment believes in the innocence of his protégés and does his own research when he encounters resistance from the local police and the villagers in the valley. His pregnant girlfriend Rebecca (Verena Altenberger) has disappeared with the juvenile delinquents; she was the attendant and was taken hostage by them. The rich businessman Albrecht (Ulrich Tukur) also gets involved in the search. His hating son Ron, an eco-activist, becomes the leader of the savage Republicans through charisma and sanity (played by Merlin Rose, reminiscent of the young Mathieu Carrière).
Despite its leisurely pace, it is told in an exciting way, and above all it is excellently cast and filmed (directors: Markus Goller and Lennart Ruff). The film was shot in Hochpustertal, in the mountains around the Drei Zinnen and the Pragser Wildsee. The landscape shots are breathtaking and the Dolomites are a spectacle in themselves. But the young actors and actresses are also excellent across the board, fresh talents like Emma Drogunova as the cool, reserved Kim, Maria Dragus in the role of the harsh healer Lindi with a right-wing nationalist background, or Béla Gabor Lenz, who is gifted with a crazy look, as Justin. You can see the stars of tomorrow here.
Wild Republic, eight episodes, in the ARD and Arte media library.