TV tip
Moral in an immoral world: “Fabian” for the first time on TV
A love develops between Fabian (Tom Schilling) and Cornelia (Saskia Rosendahl). photo
© Hanno Lentz/ZDF/dpa
Berlin in 1931: Dr. Jakob Fabian works as an advertising copywriter during the day, and at night he hangs out with a friend in brothels and pubs. Literary adaptation based on the classic by Erich Kästner.
It starts in the subway. The shaky camera starts today, roams through the train station and reappears on the other side in Berlin in the Weimar Republic. There he is, Fabian. Beside him appears a man whose face has been destroyed by war. Director Dominik Graf’s film “Fabian oder Der Gang vor den Hunde” is based on a novel from 1931 – a story by Erich Kästner (1899-1974).
The film from 2021 can now be seen on television, it will be shown on ZDF on Easter Monday at 10 p.m. Before that, he can be seen on Arte on Good Friday at 8:15 p.m.
The story tells of the Germanist Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling), who will soon lose his job as a copywriter in a cigarette factory. He enjoys alcohol and women (“My taste tends to be too blond, experience speaks against it”) and roams the nightlife with the unhappily in love Labude (Albrecht Schuch).
Love told lightly
Soon he gets to know Cornelia Battenberg. She wants to be an actress. She is played by Saskia Rosendahl (“Work without an Author”). A love develops between the two of them, which is told very lightly, with naked jokes and tender dialogues. But the story will end tragically. How many things in time.
On the one hand, the film shows Berlin as a sinful cabinet of curiosities. Blocks of ice are chopped up and imaginary Siberian accents are used. In the middle of it all, Meret Becker dreams of a men’s brothel in a fantastically seedy role. And while people long for love and sink into vanity, National Socialism is growing stronger in the background.
“We’re all on the same train, traveling across time,” the film says at one point. “We’re looking out. We’ve seen enough. We’re all on the same train and no one knows how far.” Two years before Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists “seized power”, the film tells of the last years of the Weimar Republic.
Director Graf uses many cinematic means. The film has a more square aspect ratio. Sometimes a shaky camera leads through the action. You can see a compilation of historical recordings and played scenes, loud music and quiet dialogue. This creates a fascinating collage. However, the film has its lengths and wants too much with all the stylistic devices.
historical stuff
Director Dominik Graf is almost a legendary figure himself. When he shoots a “police call” or a “crime scene” again, many television viewers are happy. He did the crime series “In the View of Crime” and “The Cat” with Götz George. It is not the first time that he has taken on historical material – with “The Beloved Sisters” he looked at Weimar in the 18th century.
In its three hours, “Fabian” primarily tells a romantic story, but also asks which compass one wants to follow in life. Can a moral person exist in an immoral world? Tom Schilling, Saskia Rosendahl and Albrecht Schuch – a great cast has been found with them.
The postscript “The walk to the dogs” – with this title Kästner’s novel was published again a few years ago in an uncensored version – already hints at the answer. “One neighbor is sleeping, another is complaining. A third is talking a lot,” says one scene in the film. “Stations are announced. The train that races through the years never reaches its destination.”