Reviews

Since the 1990ies, something unexpected has been happening in western Europe -- social-democratic or "socialist" governments committed to reforms that had previously been suggested only by Margaret Thatcher and other neoliberal politicians that used to be connected to conservative parties.

In Germany, the SPD (the social-democratic party) who formed the government coalition together with the Greens, was the party which pushed neoliberal reforms that included painful social cuts. This documentary shows why there was so little opposition against this policy. The labor unions are personally to closely intertwined with the SPD that they cannot really oppose its policy. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher hat to fight and destroy the unions in order to succeed. In Germany, the unions decided to part from the social movements and essentially give up before the fight. The question posed by the film -- has a new social movement been formed during the course of the "Monday demonstrations"? -- remains unanswered so far. The demonstrations started spontaneously in many cities, unaided by unions. Coordination efforts by Attac and minor left-wing parties were largely unsuccessful.

The film maker keeps a sympathetic distance from the protagonists; he lets them (intellectuals and "ordinary people" alike) speak their minds but never gives up his observing stance. That such statements were hardly ever shown on TV remains a scandal, and I hope that after the elections, this film will finally be shown on television.

There's breathtaking landscape as in any Heimatfilm. There are likeable characters, too. The idyllic scenery is overshadowed by adultery and incest -- but that might be kind of okay, as Paul suggests at the end.

Steinbichler wrote and directed this movie for graduating from a German film academy. Two famous actors, Bierbichler (mainly plays Brecht) and Sukowa (worked with Fassbinder), obviously believed in the script and gave him a chance. The lead role of Lene was given to Johanna Wokalek, a fresh face to me (though IMDB says the played in Aimée und Jaguar). She is absolutely enchanting, so I don't know what to write about her without making a fool of myself.

Facing the truth and trying to cope with it -- possibly even in a humorous way -- this is what this movie is about, and I think I've learned a bit from it.

After Siebtelbauern (1998), this is only the second Heimatfilm that I intensely liked. Everybody seemed to be happy when this genre died in the 60ies. A new generation of film makers has given the much-hated Heimatfilm a new meaning. Thank you for that!

I went to this movie although at least in Germany it was targeted at a younger audience because I immensely enjoyed Linklater's earlier feature film, Before Sunrise, and I was curious about the new imaging technique.

The nice optical effects were the only thing that kept me on my seat for the first 20 minutes. After that, I could no longer bear the nonsense pseudo-intellectual blather that would never stop. My girlfriend felt just the same, and so we left the theater, which is something we have never done together in out ten-year relationship. I am clueless about how Linklater could end up with a screenplay suffering so severely from logorrhea.

Beautiful images of an Italian village, a heart-warming story and great acting by Adorf, Mueller-Stahl, charming little Radost Bokel and the less known actors make this the ideal family movie. The Men in Grey, Master Hora and turtle Cassiopeia add depth to the plot, so you are free to read it as a warning of the neo-liberal episode we're in, with multinational trusts sucking the living soul out of everyone who falls for their false promises. You might even get an advice on how to overcome it -- if you want to.

Had Fassbinder lived long enough and had he not been as kaputt, he might have made this movie. Had Wenders understood a thing, he might have done it. Thanks to little-known director Johannes Schaaf at least one of Michael Ende's novels, Momo, has been adequately transformed into a great movie.