Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night)
In order to get her sentence reduced, convicted drug felon Leni (Thea Ehre) must enter a pretend relationship with undercover cop Robert (Timocin Ziegler) and introduce him to the high-ups of the market. The problem therein lies that before Leni started transitioning, the two of them were involved in real life, and now Robert desperately longs for a person she never was to begin with.
What works tremendously in the film’s favour is that most international audiences have already left Berlin by the time it is screened, and therefore the outrage stays within limits at the underwhelming closing title of the 73rd festival edition’s Competition. Because it has all the makings of a bog-standard made-for-TV crime movie (think Tatort) and no cinematic inclinations, the choice to include it in the running for one of the most prestigious European film prizes is truly bewildering. (To say nothing of the head-scratcher that it actually ended up being the recipient of a Silver Bear.)
It is laudable that the conversation of casting trans actors in trans parts has finally reached the German film industry, and the fact that the script development was overseen by members of the community also deserves praise. The filmmakers have clearly raised the bar for themselves, despite operating on a lower budget than their very recent predecessors to jump on the “topic of the week” bandwagon. The element of a well-intended approach whose implementation simply falls short runs like a common thread through a number of Till the End of the Night’s departments.
The script tries to pose intriguing questions about an interdependency of sexual orientation and gender identity (i.e. if Leni is a woman, does that mean Robert can no longer identify as gay?), but never gets past the protagonist’s severely preposterous reasoning of “having rights” (to touch someone else’s genitalia). The stilted back-and-forth between love story and crime thriller exposes a lack of technique and experience in the performances. There is no identifiable chemistry, no sense of pulling in the same direction between the lead actors, and, most shatteringly, the audience is not given sufficient grounds to believe in their history together, other than what is supplied by the dialogue’s tiresome reiterations.
While slips of the tongue can add authenticity and levity to a character, in this case the inclusion in the final cut merely begs the question whether the best takes for each shot were chosen. Perhaps a new edit could re-address some of the more fixable hiccups and help spice up the film to make it the diverting Saturday evening home entertainment program it was meant to be.
Selina Sondermann
Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night) does not have a UK release date yet.
Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.
For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.
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