Kamikaze 1989

The sixties through the eighties were the era of the “New German Cinema.” Such legendary directors as Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder began to attract the attention of the world with their unique and creative approach to filmmaking. One of the lesser known talents of the time was director Wolf Gremm. In the early eighties Gremm began work on a motion picture adaptation of the 1966 dystopian novel “Murder on the Thirty-First Floor” by Swedish author Per Wahloo, (1926-1975). This introduced the character of “Inspector Jensen” who reappeared in the 1968 novel “The Steel Spring.” Gremm offered the role of Jensen to his fellow director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. He had acted in several of his own films, but this was Fassbinder’s first appearance as an actor in someone else’s picture. Gremm was warned that Fassbinder might prove difficult on the set, but this did not prove to be the case. Both directors found the experience enjoyable.

This week’s movie was “Kamikaze 1989” from Regina Ziegler Filmproduktion in 1982, directed by Wolf Gremm from a script he co-wrote with Robert Katz. The story is set a few years in the future when West Germany has become the world’s wealthiest nation. Inflation, unemployment, and poverty have all been eliminated. All of the public media from television to newspapers and magazines are under the control of a company called the “combine,” and only good news is reported. This organization is operated by the “Konzernchef,” (Boy Gobert), who is nicknamed the “Blue Panther.” When a bomb threat arrives in the mail “Polizeileutnant Jensen,” (Rainer Werner Fassbinder), is ordered to investigate. He orders the evacuation of the combine headquarters. No bomb goes off, but the event is embarrassing to the organization. Jensen is given four days to identify the source of the threat. With his assistant “MK 1 Anton,” (Gunther Kaufmann), Jensen begins to investigate the mysterious thirty-first floor of the building. He learns that the combine has isolated the nation’s intellectual class to this location, and frustrates all their creative efforts in order to eliminate opposition. One of these individuals is “Weiss,” (Franco Nero), and he is the source of the danger.

This movie resembles Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 science fiction film “Alphaville” in creating a fantasy setting by making use of futuristic contemporary architecture to suggest the world of tomorrow. Both films also embrace the “film noir” traditions of American detective pictures. American superhero comic books also have some influence on this film. The character of “Jensen” is dressed in a leopard-skin suit to suggest futuristic tailoring. Even his revolver has leopard-skin pistol grips.

In spite of being a little rough around the edges I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. Fassbinder gives a very enjoyable performance, and Gremm moves the story along nicely.

Shortly after the production of this movie Rainer Werner Fassbinder died of an accidental overdose of cocaine and barbiturates. In his short life of only 37 years he directed more than forty feature films, as well as many projects for stage and television.

The theme music for this film is an excerpt from the overture of “The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini. The incidental music is by Edgar Froese of “Tangerine Dream.”

The headquarters for the combine organization is portrayed by the LVA Hauptgebaude building in Düsseldorf.