Thousand Lines

Freelance journalist Juan Romero (Elyas M'Barek) is working for a major political magazine on a big story about migrants on the border between Mexico and the United States. Romero knows that such an article could take him far in his career. He is all the more disappointed when he receives instructions to work with award-winning reporter Lars Bogenius (Jonas Nay) on the cover story. When he comes across a number of inconsistencies in his part, all he gets from Bogenius is excuses. The head of the magazine also doesn't want to hear about Romero's doubts. So the reporter decides to get to the bottom of the matter himself. And to do so, he risks not only losing his job, but also his family and his good reputation...

With "Thousand Lines", Michael "Bully" Herbig delivers the scandal surrounding Spiegel editor Claas Relotius in his very own way. The mixture of drama and comedy actually fits the story very well. It's true that stylistic devices like breaking the fourth wall, in which the characters in the film address the audience directly, have become somewhat overused. But as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the real scandal, it actually works very well.

The fact that the film disappointed me somewhat overall was certainly due to the fact that I found its predecessor "Ballon" so extremely strong. In my eyes, the drama is by far Michael "Bully" Herbig's strongest film, which offers entertainment at a very high level. Unfortunately, "Tausend Zeilen" can't keep up with that. But even without this comparison, the film leaves a somewhat ambivalent impression. Herbig takes a lot of time to build up the story, which he does very well. But the end comes along a bit too rushed and then culminates in a paean to investigative press work, which is actually completely unnecessary. Because the film has previously made it more than clear which form of journalism he rejects and which he sees as socially extremely important.

Actorically, the film can also not 100% convince. Elyas M'Barek ventures too little out of his comfort zone, making his portrayal of Juan Romero too similar to the characters he has most recently played in his numerous hit comedies. Yet he has often proven in the past that he can be more versatile (just think of the great thriller "Who am I"). Supporting actors like Michael Maertens play well, but run the risk of their characters degenerating into mere caricatures.

I think "Thousand Lines" is a good, in places very good film, but one that gives away a lot of potential. Visually, Herbig again plays in the international top class, but dramaturgically, more could have been taken out of the material. Therefore, the bottom line is a decent, but unfortunately not quite as enthusiastic "Sehenswert", as I had hoped after the trailer.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp