QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN

Adapted from French novelist Robert Merle’s 1974 book The Virility Factor, The Protected Men (Die geschützten Männer, 2024), written and directed by Irene von Alberti, shifts the novel’s location from the United States to modern day Germany where a mysterious virus with a 100% mortality rate that only affects adult men strikes the nation just as the county is readying for its parliamentary elections. The virus at first appears to target those with high testosterone levels, and men in positions of power, the so-called Alphas of society. It reduces these men to hairy, sex-crazed neanderthals and the victims swiftly die in a state of sexual arousal. Soon German society is in turmoil as men drop out of the workforce, go into exile, or drop dead from the virus.

The crisis leads to a female coup d’etat of the German government by the small Feminist Ensemble of Minorities Party (FEM), who offer the German populace a challenge to the status quo and propose a new vision of ecology, equality, and sustainability for the nation. The party is led by best friends Anita Martinelli (Britta Hammelstein) and Sarah Bedford (Mavie Hörbiger). Anita, a moderate feminist is named Minister of the Interior, while Sarah, a radical feminist with a hatred of men, proclaims herself Chancellor. Sarah’s actions become more militant and her governance more erratic and hair-raising. She bans all cis men from any government position and declares a state of emergency in which men are forcibly removed from society and placed in lockdown, while women and people of other genders take-up roles within typically male dominated fields such as the military and construction work.

While society is being restructured, biologist Ralph Martinelli (Yousef ‘Joe’ Sweid) and his team of ‘protected’ male virologists occupy a secluded army barracks and get to work on an antidote under the observant eye of pharmaceutical boss Hilda Pfeiffer (Bibiana Beglau). Trial after trial fails to secure a vaccine and the team believe their efforts are being hindered from outside.

Meanwhile, the bureaucracy of German society appears to function in a calm and collective manner under female stewardship. Yet, Anita suspects that Sarah’s authoritarian bent is more sinister and when she discovers that there has been a purposeful delaying of the male scientists’ attempt to create a vaccine by the country’s radical Health Minister, she and a group of other moderate feminists stage a coup of their own. They free the ‘protected men’ from the barracks and allow the vaccine to be created and distributed to the male population.

There are several angles in which to view The Protected Men and its many meanings. Firstly, the film feels relevant to understanding the unease and anxiety of the Covid-19 pandemic that swept across the globe in 2021. The German population here, much like the rest of the globe during those early days, are thrown into a state confusion and fear of catching the virus. Like many governments at the time, severe measures were implemented to ‘flatten the curve’ of the virus. Lockdowns, surveillance, and limited movements were necessary requirements. In the wake of Covid’s exhaustive measures a blase attitude to the new pandemic prevails among the ruling elite.

Secondly, the conspiratorial leanings of modern societies are also explored. Some men fear that the virus is a purposeful creation meant to limit their power and influence, while also curtailing their freedom of speech. Today, societies are bogged down in a quagmire of similar online conspiracy theories that often penetrate reality. These are led by so-called ‘manosphere’ influencers such as Andrew Tate, and Joe Rogan who bemoan feminism and pour scorn on women climbing the social ladder. They denounce the downward trajectory of men in society and pushback with misogynistic and often violent intent towards women. This stance infects mainstream politics and culture and leads to men such as Donald Trump securing political power.

Thirdly, one could view the film through the writings of radical feminist Valerie Solanas and especially her 1967 SCUM Manifesto. German society, under the leadership of the militant Sarah resembles Solanas’s proposal that society needs “civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and eliminate the male sex.” This vision transpires. Men, under the new regime, are forced into servitude or retirement until they eventually die off. Thankfully, once Sarah is toppled from power, Anita’s more moderate understanding allows for an equal redistribution of positions or power within society. The newly enlightened and content population of Germany are seen as a model for other countries to emulate. Leading to a proposed global movement of gender equality and socialism.

This is a biting satire of societal gender roles. Using elements of absurdist humor to counter its grim message that no matter who is in charge absolute power corrupts the soul. The film also celebrates the importance of science and the noble and heroic work conducted by scientists in times of struggle, which feels like an important feature when these people are often overlooked, openly ridiculed, or even branded evil globalists. Ultimately, the film proposes that a better world is possible when everybody is aligned for the greater good.

Protected Men just premiered in the Rebels with a Cause Section of the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.