On the night of 13 July 2002, the Schönfeld brothers and their friend Sebastian Fink killed sixteen-year-old Marinus Schöberl, after first humiliating and beating him. Inspired by the film American History X (1998) they broke the helpless young man's neck by kicking him in the back of the neck. The murderers and their victim came from Potzlow, a village sixty kilometres north of Berlin. Four months later the threesome were charged. During the trial the media portrayed them as right-wing extremists who came from the socially desolate eastern part of the country. The director decided to burst this media explanation, and with the aim of examining their deed as the end in itself he set out for the village to again record the testimony of everyone involved in the event. He re-examined all the records of the investigations and the court proceedings. The result is the minutes of the event. Its authentic content was transferred into dramatic form with the aid of two actors. This produced a documentary drama performed in the stark backstage wings of the Maxim Gorky Theatre in Berlin. Veiel then put the suggestive performance on the screen. The film highlights the minimalism of the performance; it contains nothing that could distract our attention. Der Kick goes to the edges of this genre. However, the documentary offers its own detachment, which allows the issue to be viewed primarily from an analytical perspective.
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