Present day Hamburg, Germany: a mysterious, tortured and near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run arrives in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune. Nothing about this young man seems to add up; is he a victim or a thief or, worse still, an extremist intent on destruction? Drawn into this web of intrigue is a British private banker and a young female lawyer (Rachel McAdams) determined to defend the defenceless. All the while, they are being watched by the brilliant, roguish chief of a covert German spy unit (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who fights to put the pieces together as the clock ticks.
Philip Seymour Hoffman commands the film in a breathtaking central performance. “The Bachmann character and Philip, I couldn’t distinguish at some point,” says director Anton Corbijn. “You so believed in that character as a real person that you couldn’t believe it was somebody acting that. He is that good. I don’t have to tell you that he was the best actor of his generation, by far.” It was to be his last completed performance before his tragic death.
'The last full-scale Hoffman performance - and it's a masterclass in acting.'
'[a] political passion play about good, evil, and the sins committed in the name of national security.'
'[a] crackerjack thriller, at once brooding, claustrophobic and unbearably tense.'
'Philip Seymour Hoffman's superb swansong - it is a commanding performance from Hoffman, and an overwhelmingly satisfying note for this actor to end on.'
'It was shot in dark, lurid, vital Hamburg; Hoffman is the star; and I was completely held.'
