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Master Of The Game

2004, Movie, R, 93 mins

Master Of The Game: Review

MASTER OF THE GAME
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Austin-based filmmaker Jeff Stolhand's fourth feature, a smartly written, resourcefully produced exercise in psychological suspense, is never afraid to opt for dialogue over action. The year is 1945, the beginning of the end of Hitler's Third Reich, and though concentration camps have been emptied of their prisoners, the Final Solution continues unabated. Four Jewish prisoners who've managed to escape a German transport seek refuge from a raging rainstorm in a remote cabin, only to find it already occupied — by Nazi officers. Wolfgang (Steven Prince), Keppler (David Stokey), Roder (Alex Affolter) and their commander, Raster (Garry Peters), have been stranded there for days, unable to contact army headquarters and surviving on rapidly dwindling rations. After a brief discussion over whether it's worth wasting bullets — let alone food — on four Jews, Wolfgang takes matters into his own hands. He asks each of the luckless fugitives his name, then coolly shoots the first three in the head. The fourth (Uygar Aktan, who also wrote the script), however, gives the answer Wolfgang's been looking for, offering the dehumanizing number tattooed on his forearm as his sole identity. Upon further interrogation, #3264 reveals that he's actually an American soldier; when Commander Raster hears that their guest is also a novelist, he demands that he entertain them with a story. The prisoner complies, but the next day #3264 proposes a challenge in lieu of a tale. He claims that if they all agree to switch places, he'll be able to prove to these exemplars of the master race that he, a mongrel Jew, is in fact their superior. They must agree to answer all of questions, while he in turn promises not to attempt to escape. He alone will determine when the game is over. Astonishingly, the commander agrees to all his conditions: The officers shave their heads and don the striped camp rags of the dead Jews, while Raster hands #3264 his uniform. Then, using the logic of a good lawyer and the psychological acumen of a therapist, #3264 systematically destroys his captors one by one. Aktan's script is a surprisingly accurate depiction of the Fascist mindset and the anti-Semitic attitudes that enabled "ordinary" Germans to exterminate millions of human beings. The pacing is suspenseful and acting is actually pretty good, even if accents are no one's strong suit: All those guttural "r"s and "v"s-for-"w"s make the Germans sound more like Hogan's Heroes hopefuls than Nazi brutes. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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