The movie's plot is based on the true story of a group of young computer hackers from Hannover, Germany. In the late 1980s the orphaned Karl Koch invests his heritage in a flat and a home computer. At first he dials up to bulletin boards to discuss conspiracy theories inspired by his favorite novel, R.A. Wilson's "Illuminatus", but soon he and his friend David start breaking into government and military computers. Pepe, one of Karl's rather criminal acquaintances senses that there is money in computer cracking - he travels to east Berlin and tries to contact the KGB.
Acting
August Diehl's unraveling is physically painful to watch.
Direction
Schmid makes CRT monitors feel genuinely menacing.
Production
Painfully authentic late-80s Germany, down to the beige plastic.
Director
Hans-Christian Schmid
August Diehl
Karl Koch
Fabian Busch
David
Dieter Landuris
Pepe
Jan-Gregor Kremp
Lupo
Burghart Klaußner
Weber
Stephan Kampwirth
Jochen Maiwald
Zbigniew Zamachowski
Sergej
Peter Fitz
Brückner
Lilly Marie Tschörtner
Beate
Patrick Joswig
Alex
Sven Lehmann
Computerverkäufer
Regine Zimmermann
Pepes Freundin
Armin Dillenberger
Kellner im Zug
Oscar Ortega Sánchez
Mr. Minit
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This flopped in 1998 but became a cult object among hackers who appreciated its refusal to glamorize their subculture.
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