And so we come now to the end of our journey through German cinema with the submission for Best Foreign Language film from this year's Oscars. I was going to watch this one anyway (because Oscars) but I wouldn't have had the wealth of background knowledge if I had seen it back in February. The poster looks super weird but it is actually a still from the movie. You'd just have to see it.
Winifried Conradi (Peter Simonischek) is a part-time teacher who dotes on his aging dog and his aging mother with the same care. He doesn't get to see his daughter, Ines (Sandra Huller) much as her job is based in Bucharest, Romania. After his dog dies, Winifried decides to surprise Ines with a visit and learns that the life she had spoken of in glowing terms is actually filled with professional disappointments and personal emptiness. He doesn't know how to reach out to her and his corny practical jokes just push her farther away. So he decides to pretend to leave, don a horrible disguise, and break into her life masquerading as Toni Erdmann, a life coach. Ines is furious and decides to give her father exactly what he wants: an unfiltered view of her life. But the more ridiculous things get, the more she realizes that maybe he has a point after all.
This is kind of a comedy but it's a very German comedy. Maren Ade, the director, is a graduate of the Berlin School style of filmmaking, which swings the pendulum back from pure commercialism towards art films. As a result, there is a distinct lack of snappy editing and closure, and more of a focus on long takes, stationary characters, and unflinching views of cringe-inducing moments. I'm not a fan of cringe comedy so I can't say that I enjoyed watching this film as much as I have others. It's an interesting film and certainly a good film, but I didn't like it. Enter with caution.
Or wait for the inevitable American remake currently set to star Kristen Wiig and Jack Nicholson.
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