4 stars
THIS MOVIE IS IN GERMAN
which is why it doesn’t have MPAA rating … but i would put it somewhere between PG-13 and R … it is not an “adult” movie but neither is it for children.
German movies are under-rated IMO …
the last German movie i reviewed was Stations of the Cross …
which was also a young girl versus the system movie but the roles are sort of reversed between the two movies …
though both are sad movies in “stations of the cross” the system is playing offense and the 14 year old girl is playing defense … whereas in “system crasher” the 9 year old girl is playing offense and the system is fighting for its life.
despite this it is actually “stations of the cross” that has elements of humor whereas “system crasher” is completely serious. both movies are drama with elements of horror.
the 9 year old girl was played by an actual 9 year old Helena Zengel. according to wikipedia 150 child actresses auditioned for the role and Helena Zengel was the only one who was actually able to play the role. i honestly do not think this movie would have worked with anybody else playing “Benni” as the performance of 9 year old Helena Zengel makes “Avatar: The Way of Water” ( which i saw a week ago ) seem low-budget by comparison.
in “Avatar: The Way of Water” 14 year old “Kiri” is played by 70 year old Sigourney Weaver …
anyway “Benni” is definitely one of the best performances by a child actor ever.
as for the movie itself - it falls just short of greatness because all of the characters are basically good people, which is never the case in real life. the drama comes entirely from “Benni” being completely dysfunctional.
if we look at “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” for example
it also is about a troubled girl but there are some genuinely scummy characters in that movie and the girl’s troubled nature is rather secondary to the film …
in “System Crasher” it’s really all about the destructive personality of “Benni” while everybody else is just flopping around like a fish out of water trying to get a handle on her … the sheer lack of evil in the movie is unrealistic …
there are literally no villains in the movie ( except “Benni” herself ) so all of the depth of the film comes from the fact that you’re rooting for the villain … who is also a sweet 9 year old girl who just wants to go home to her mother …
i won’t go so far as to say that Helena Zengel’s performance was wasted but certainly the rest of the film doesn’t measure up to it. as played the character “Benni” was good for a solid 5 star movie, but the movie itself is only 4 stars due to lack of depth in other areas.
anyway, i recommend this movie.
