A Coffee in Berlin

Niko breaks another appointment with a good looking girl, acting as if he isn’t interested. At the same time, he loses his license and doesn’t even have enough for a coffee – his bank balance doesn’t look any more promising. Maybe Niko is just having a bad day but it’s more likely that things are like this every day, because life can be hard even if there’s not much going on. With a subtle nod to Woody Allen and the films of the French New Wave, the movie builds a subdued mood with the support of an interesting character whose behavior, although he does nothing wrong, occasionally goes against him. Even though they appear only briefly, the supporting characters are also memorable: they reveal quite a bit about themselves and, mainly, they manage to influence the main character. Despite being set in contemporary Berlin, the style of the film and its music stand in opposition to the spontaneity of the modern metropolis as the director draws the viewer’s attention to an introverted hero who walks the streets without ever taking his eyes off the sidewalk. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)