Based on one of the most spectacular series of bank robberies in Germany, Zwölf Winter tells the story of Klaus and Mike, two criminals who became friends in prison. When they happen to meet each other again after they have been released they begin to plan the perfect bank robbery, and it seems to work. For twelve years the two keep on robbing banks, always in winter. The police are in the dark for years. But they won't stick to their guns...
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Reviews
Sadly Over-hyped
Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
12 Winter played in San Francisco as part of the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival. At the time, I thought that it reminded me a lot in style and approach to a German TV movie. This is not really a slight; German TV movies are often very good. Then I found out that it is, in fact, a German TV movie. The film is based on the true story of a band of very methodical and patient bank robbers, who managed to avoid capture by creating a series of misleading clues as to their identities. How they did this is pretty remarkable. I think the film adheres fairly faithfully to the facts of the case. Perhaps this is a good thing, but a little more dramatic license might have increased the tension in some scenes. Nonetheless, it is an exciting film, reminiscent at times of the crime films of the 1950s. It is well acted and directed.
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