Short Sharp Shock

Original title: Kurz und schmerzlos

1998
1h 39m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Gabriel (Mehmet Kurtulus) gets out of jail and is determined to put his criminal past behind him. Yet with his two friends Bobby (Aleksandar Jovanovic) and Costa (Adam Bousdoukos) drawn to c... Read allGabriel (Mehmet Kurtulus) gets out of jail and is determined to put his criminal past behind him. Yet with his two friends Bobby (Aleksandar Jovanovic) and Costa (Adam Bousdoukos) drawn to crime, will he be dragged back in?Gabriel (Mehmet Kurtulus) gets out of jail and is determined to put his criminal past behind him. Yet with his two friends Bobby (Aleksandar Jovanovic) and Costa (Adam Bousdoukos) drawn to crime, will he be dragged back in?

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

5.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 wins & 5 nominations

Trivia
In the scene where Bobby slaps Alice, Aleksandar Jovanovic really slapped Regula Grauwiller on director's demand without her knowledge to intensify the scene and add authenticity.

Goofs
As the camera tracks in to Bobby and Muhamer, the camera and its tracks are reflected on the front door of the car.

Connections
Features Drunken Master (1978)

Soundtracks
Nunca diré
Written by Daniel Puente Encina
Performed by Niños con Bombas

User reviews20

Review

Featured review

8/10

Faith Akin's earlier work is as impressive as his recent hit 'Gegen die Wand'

In the light of Faith Akin's 2004 'Gegen die Wand', 'Kurz und Schmerzlos' is relatively The most impressive point of the movie is the grim poverty which penetrates into the close friendship between Gabriel, Costa, and Bobby. Even though these three members of the Greco-Turkish-Serbian gang have sufficient amount of goodwill and mutual respect for, their inferiority complexes, combined with poverty, have detrimental effects on all of them.

Bobby, hungry for more street respect, starts to work for an Albanian mafioso, and Costa joins his friend reluctantly as an experienced car thief. Gabriel, fresh from jail, tries to stop his two best buddies from joining the thugs. When Gabriel attempts this in his street-smart way, however, he further pushes his two buddies into the hands of the mafia.

As Faith Akin recently reconfirmed with his 2004 movie 'Gegen die Wand', the Turco-German director applies his knowledge about marginal immigrant societies in Germany to his movies. The result is a fascinating, modestly grim, and interesting movies which continue to bring Akin worldwide acclaim and admiration.