To adapt on the big screen the hectic life of Xatar, a former Kurdish refugee who went through organized crime and became a rap superstar in Germany, director Fatih Akin has fun telescoping genres, from socio-political drama to gangster film . The 2h18 of “Rheingold” pass in a flash.
His name is Rhine gold (Rheingold) and it is indeed a question of a spectacular robbery of 250 kg of yellow metal, but it is above all a golden subject which Fatih Akin tackles in his latest film, in theaters on June 28. The German director of Turkish origin indeed tells an incredible true story, that of Giwar Hajabi, a Kurdish refugee born in Iran 41 years ago who became a German rap superstar under the name of Xatar after a life of thug.
His tumultuous journey, which led him from a refugee camp during the Iran-Iraq war to exile in Europe, and from street violence to organized crime and even prison, before a lightning ascent in the rap, Giwar Hajabi told it in a bestselling autobiography published in 2015. It is this book that Fatih Akin adapted for his new film, for which he also wrote the screenplay. You don’t need to know Xatar’s songs to appreciate this dizzying odyssey, all the more convincing as the rapper constantly kept an eye on the grain on the set.
From political drama to gangster film, “Rheingold” multiplies genres
After the controversial golden glove (2019) a kind of biopic too but about a serial killer, criticized for his unbearable scenes of violence, the German director (Soul Kitchen, The Cut, In The Fade) returns with Rheingold to a more consensual cinema. But, rather than sticking to a classic staging to unfold this colorful and rich in adventure story, Fatih Akin has fun marrying the twists and turns of this crazy destiny by telescoping the genres.
Started at top speed with a nod to the B movies of the 70s, the film goes from socio-political drama to thriller, from comedy to gangster film and from tragedy to burlesque without ever losing its rhythm. hectic or lead the viewer astray. From puny and vulnerable kid to clumsy capable of knocking out a bunch of little punches in the blink of an eye, and from seller of copies of porn videos in college to cocaine deal bigwig, Giwar the survivor climbs the ranks of crime and becomes the formidable Xatar (“the dangerous” in Kurdish). Then it’s the robbery too many, prison, and redemption through rap, Xatar also becoming a producer and boss of a music label.
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The promising Emilio Sakraya explodes on the screen
If he dwells on the young years of his hero, with several actors according to the ages, the actor Emilio Sakraya, who embodies adult Giwar, carries most of the film on his shoulders. With a rather sober and restrained acting, this young actor who recalls De Niro in Taxi Driver, explodes on the screen and portrays a charismatic and endearing Xatar. With one caveat though: although he’s gained 16kg to match the wingspan of the real Giwar/Xatar, he’s still a lot prettier boy than the original, which sometimes hurts the character’s credibility.
The soundtrack, dense in rap and R&B, adds even more nerve to this Rheingold, an ironic title, a nod to Richard Wagner’s famous opera. The music is of course by Xatar, who also wisely slipped in classical compositions by his father Eghbal Hajabi, a Kurdish musician banished from Iran with his entire community by Khomeini at the end of the 1970s. Produced under difficult conditions during the health crisis, Rheingold may not be Fatih Akin’s best feature film, but it could well become his most popular film. Across the Rhine, where it was released in October 2022, it was a hit.
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The sheet
Gender : biopic, musical, drama
Director: Fatih Akin
Country : Germany
Duration : 2h18
Exit : June 28, 2023
Summary: The incredible rise of Giwar Hajabi, young Kurdish-Iranian immigrant, former criminal and drug trafficker turned Xatar, star and legend of German rap.