23 (German)
A review by Mark R. Leeper in bullet-list form
from the Toronto Internation Film Festival
CAPSULE: Two computer hackers from Hanover, Germany, members of the Computer Chaos Club get involved breaking into the computers of major companies and of governments. What starts as a game turns into an international espionage incident. The (basically) true story is told here. This is the story of the computer criminals that Clifford Stoll caught as detailed in THE CUCKOO'S EGG. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Has-Christian Schmidt who co-wrote the screenplay. - The other side of Clifford Stoll's CUCKOO'S EGG. In fact, the Nova dramatization would make a very good companion piece. This is the story of the Hanover data bandits. - Begins with Karl Koch and his friend David's interest in the Illuminatus book by Robert Shea (unmentioned) and Robert Anton Wilson (who plays himself in a few short scenes). - Karl and David are 19 when taken with the hacker's ethic that information belongs to everyone. They begin breaking into corporate and government computers. A go-between suggests that the KGB will pay well for the right information. From there life starts giving them big ups and bigger downs. - 23 is basically a morality tale of how the Hanover bandits ruined their lives. With their fascination in conspiracies they actually bred conspiracies against themselves. - It is hard to keep up with the pace of the story telling. The names are a little hard to follow. - It is hard to understand why the hacker's ethic would cause Karl and David to ally themselves with the KGB. - They use money from their hacking to buy cocaine and only make their lives worse. - They make obvious errors. When the landlord no longer seems to care whether you are paying rent or not, get the heck out. - In tone similar to TRAINSPOTTING. People trapped by shortsighted behavior. - The information that the Hanover bandits gave the Soviets was not the serious damage. They stole much of the innocence of the Internet. Imagine a village in which people feel secure and nobody locks their doors. Two kids discover this and start petty thefts. They may not steal much but soon everybody will realize they have to put locks on their doors. Security becomes an industry. That is what the Hanover bandits did to the world of computers.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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