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This adaptation of Ferdinand von Schirach’s thriller about a grandfather with a murky past is let down by conventional storytelling and clunky acting

“We need to know about the evil,” said the German lawyer-turned-bestselling-novelist Ferdinand von Schirach. “That’s the only way we can live with it.” His grandfather was head of the Hitler Youth and his grandmother served as Hitler’s secretary. Now, Von Schirach’s thriller about the legacy of Nazism featuring a grandfather with a murky past has been adapted into a watchable if sluggish and dated courtroom drama – let down by cliched storytelling and clunky acting that drains the movie of tension.

Elyas M’Barek plays newly qualified public defender Caspar Leinen, who is constantly being reminded that his Turkish heritage puts him on the outside of the establishment. Three months into the new job, he lands the case of his career, representing an Italian man...

Peccadillo Pictures has launched a poster and trailer for the upcoming drama inspired by one of the biggest legal scandals in German history, ‘The Collini Case.’

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, the story follows young attorney Caspar Leinen (Elyas M’Barek) as he is assigned his first major case when appointed by the court as a defence counsel to Fabrizio Collini (Franco Nero), an unassuming 70-year-old Italian accused of killing the respected industrial magnate Hans Meyer (Manfred Zapatka), seemingly without motive. But there is much more at stake for Caspar than his first big case as a defence lawyer. The victim was not only the grandfather of his childhood sweetheart Johanna (Alexandra Maria Lara) but also a mentor and father figure to him in his youth. Although a non-guilty verdict would propel his career, the damage to his personal relationships would be irreversible. Despite this, Caspar delves deeper into the high-profile case,...

It has been a long time since Franco Nero got a role fully deserving of his talents. In Marco Kreuzpaintner's take on Ferdinand von Schirach's international bestseller, he shows that he's still got what it takes - even though, in the opening scenes, it's very difficult to tell what his character is thinking or feeling. The camera focuses closely on those steely blue eyes as he approaches his destination, a spacious glass-fronted office in an expensive looking building. There, he is greeted by elderly executive Hans Meyer (Manfred Zapatka), and though we don't directly witness what happens between them, it's not difficult to figure out - even before he staggers down into the lobby to announce it.

The 70-year-old German-Italian Fabrizio Collini offers no defence. He barely even speaks. Things look even worse for him when he is assigned earnest young lawyer Caspar Leinen (Elyas M'Barek), who, it turns out,...

German mini-major Constantin Film has greenlit an adaptation of The Collini Case, the best-selling legal drama from German lawyer turned novelist Ferdinand von Schirach.

German box-office magnet Elyas M’Barek (Suck Me Shakespeer) will star as a young defense lawyer charged with representing a 60-year-old Italian man who, apparently without cause, brutally murders Hans Meyer, one of Germany's richest business tycoons. As he investigates he uncovers dark secrets in Meyer's past that could prove the key to understanding the case.

Marco Kreuzpaintner (Sommersturm, The Trade) will direct the adaptation, which will co-star Alexandra Maria Lara (Downfall) and Heiner Lauterbach. Kreuzpaintner ...

German mini-major Constantin Film has greenlit an adaptation of The Collini Case, the best-selling legal drama from German lawyer turned novelist Ferdinand von Schirach.

German box-office magnet Elyas M’Barek (Suck Me Shakespeer) will star as a young defense lawyer charged with representing a 60-year-old Italian man who, apparently without cause, brutally murders Hans Meyer, one of Germany's richest business tycoons. As he investigates he uncovers dark secrets in Meyer's past that could prove the key to understanding the case.

Marco Kreuzpaintner (Sommersturm, The Trade) will direct the adaptation, which will co-star Alexandra Maria Lara (Downfall) and Heiner Lauterbach. Kreuzpaintner ...

A middling entry in the genre of blow-it-up big action spectacles, Paul Wendkos’ Spain-filmed western gives us all the excitement promised by the poster, but with some cardboard characters and lumpy storytelling. George Peppard is on the job, however, and once again proves he can carry a big picture, flaws and all.

Cannon for Cordoba

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: George Peppard, Raf Vallone, Giovanna Ralli, Don Gordon, Pete Duel, Nico Minardos, John Russell, John Larch, Gabriele Tinti, Francine York, Lionel Murton, Hans Meyer, Aldo Sambrell, Luis Barboo.

Cinematography: Antonio Macasoli

Film Editor: Walter A. Hannemann

Special effects: Emilio Ruiz del Río

Original Music: Elmer Bernstein

Written by Stephen Kandel

Produced by Vincent M. Fennelly

Directed by Paul Wendkos

While providing backing for independent writer-producers like Billy Wilder, Walter Mirisch also shepherded various less ambitious war movies and westerns,...