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Knife in the Head

Play trailer Poster for Knife in the Head 1978,  1h 48m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Stream Now Watchlist 86% 7 Reviews Tomatometer 100% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
86% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 100% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Hoffman (Bruno Ganz) is searching for his wife (Angela Winkler) at the youth center where she works. When a police raid turns into an armed struggle with revolutionaries, Hoffman is caught in the crossfire, and shot in the head. Once a promising bio-geneticist, Hoffman is now unable to move and barely able to remember the incident. While terrorists claim him as a hero, police frame him to justify shooting him. Hoffman must painstakingly piece together his memory to discover what really happened.
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Critics Reviews

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Jay Scott Globe and Mail Aug 16, 2022
Knife in the head shatters commercial crockery... it allows for realistic fear. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Oct 23, 2004
3/4
Knife in the Head isn't a straightforward leftist political tract; it's much more subtle than that, and if it has a position, it's closer to despair than to radical reform. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Dec 5, 2022
3/4
The film’s low-key approach only enhances the chill factor. Go to Full Review
Michael Lasky Bay Area Reporter May 4, 2020
Bruno Ganz as Bertolt Hoffmann, our hero, is staggering in a performance frightening in its realism. Go to Full Review
Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) Aug 12, 2019
The story feels too distant, if not ambiguous. The ending is too theatrical, which seems to be the common vice of the new German cinema. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Jun 5, 2010
B
It starts out as a political thriller, but turns ugly into a psychodrama. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Nov 19, 2018 Saw this in probably 78 or 79 at an arthouse cinema in Toronto, remember it being excellent,
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Knife in the Head

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Cast & Crew

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Reinhard Hauff

Director

Bruno Ganz

Hoffmann

Angela Winkler

Ann

Hans Christian Blech

Anleitner

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Knife in the Head

Knife in the Head (1978) Knife in the Head (1978) Knife in the Head (1978) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Hoffman (Bruno Ganz) is searching for his wife (Angela Winkler) at the youth center where she works. When a police raid turns into an armed struggle with revolutionaries, Hoffman is caught in the crossfire, and shot in the head. Once a promising bio-geneticist, Hoffman is now unable to move and barely able to remember the incident. While terrorists claim him as a hero, police frame him to justify shooting him. Hoffman must painstakingly piece together his memory to discover what really happened.
Director
Reinhard Hauff
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Runtime
1h 48m
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