After shooting some cops and jumping out a window nude, serial killer/pederast/artist Gabriel Engel (André Hennicke) is apprehended. He readily admits to fourteen murders and the people of Germany breathe a collective sigh of relief. It's a great day for the German authorities. That is, everyone except Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Möhring), a farmer and police officer from a quiet rural community not far from Berlin. While Engel has confessed to most of the charges against him, he won't confess to the murder of Lucia Flieder, a young girl from Martens' village. With the crime unsolved for over a year, the tight-knit locals have turned against Martens. But Engel claims to know who committed this heinous crime and he's willing to guide Martens to the answer. Before revealing anything, however, Engel will settle for nothing less than the complete psychological dissection of his interrogator. Simultaneously facing a convicted madman, a condescending urban police force and his own shaky family dynamic, Martens becomes something of a madman himself. To paraphrase Engel, evil is a virus and Martens is infected. Confounded by accusations that hit surprisingly close to home, Martens' mental health rapidly declines. Only one question remains: will he become a full-blown maniac or can he keep it together long enough to solve the crime, salvage some semblance of sanity and get his family back on track?

The third feature by German filmmaker Christian Alvart, Antibodies is well aware of its debt to Manhunter and The Silence of the Lambs. The killer even jokes about these parallels. But Gabriel Engel is no Hannibal Lecter. Presented with no evident charm or appeal, Engel is a sick, depraved and completely unsympathetic character. Alvart doesn't believe in lending credibility or reverence to serial killers. Instead, he creates a vivid picture of everything that is horrible about Engel. The result is a disturbing and uncompromising film that makes no effort to ingratiate itself to an audience. Alvart also avoids the most exploitative tendencies of the genre. This is not a traditional serial-killer movie. Rather than follow the murderer's crimes as they're committed, Alvart focusses entirely on the aftermath. The real subject of Antibodies is the importance of closure and the thin line between madness and normality, not murder. Made with impressive craft and polish, this troubling film should catapult Alvart to bigger things.

—Jonathan Doyle

http://www.antikoerper-derfilm.de

Director: Christian Alvart
Screenplay: Christian Alvart
Cast: Wotan Wilke Möhring, André Hennicke, Heinz Hoenig
Producers: Christian Alvart, Susanne Kusche, Boris Schönfelder

Avow North american Premiere England 2004 | 4 min English language