23 is a 1998 German movie about a young hacker Karl Koch, who supposedly committed suicide on May 23, 1989. It was directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, who also participated in screenwriting. The film's accuracy has been disputed by some witnesses to the real-life events it was based on. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. ... Karl Koch (born July 22, 1965 in Hannover, died - probably - May 23, 1989) was a German hacker in the 1980s, who called himself hagbard, after Hagbard Celine. ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hans-Christian Schmid (1965, Altötting) is a German film director. ...

Plot

In Germany in the 1980s - at the height of the Cold War - the 19-year-old Karl Koch (August Diehl) finds the world around him threatening and chaotic. Inspired by the fictious character Hagbard Celine (from Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy), he starts investigating the backgrounds of political and economic power and discovers signs that make him believe in a worldwide conspiracy. Karl Koch (born July 22, 1965 in Hannover, died - probably - May 23, 1989) was a German hacker in the 1980s, who called himself hagbard, after Hagbard Celine. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Captain Hagbard Celine is a fictional character from the Illuminatus trilogy of books by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, named after the legendary Viking hero Hagbard who died for love. ... Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson or R. A. W. (born January 18, 1932) is a futurologist, libertarian, and novelist. ... 23 The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. ... Alternate uses: See Conspiracy (disambiguation) Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ...

At a meeting with hackers, Karl gets to know the student David (Fabien Busch). David and Karl are able to hack into the global data network - which is still, at this point, in its early stages - and their belief in social justice propels them into espionage for the KGB. Hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. ... The Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti  listen, or KGB, (Russian: Комите́т Госуда́рственной Безопа́сности; English: Committee for State Security), was the name of the main Soviet Security Agency and intelligence agency, as well as the main secret police agency from March 13, 1954 to November 6, 1991. ...

Driven by contacts with a drug dealer--and by increasing KGB pressure to hack successfully into foreign systems--Karl spirals into a cocaine dependency and grows increasingly alienated from David. Cocaine is a crystalline alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ...

In a drug-addled state, Karl begins to sit in front of his computer for days at a time. Perpetually sleepless, he also grows increasingly delusional. When David publicly reveals the espionage activity in which the two men have been engaged, Karl is left alone to face the consequences. Collapse soon follows. Karl is brought to a hospital to deal with his drug addiction and dies, in mysterious circumstances, soon afterward.

External Link

• 23 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/) at the Internet Movie Database