Buffronioc
One of the wrost movies I have ever seen
Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
insomniac_rod
A movie that is not intended to be funny but tries to talk about how sacrificing fortune and fame for art is worth some problems (big problems).Viktor Vogel manages to experience fortune, recognition, not honest attitudes (cheating others' ideas for publicity/advertising), and even getting kicked out of the place where he lived.Overall this is a fresh dramatic-comedy feature that does not tries to be more than what it is. I thought this was an indie film but the distribution company behind it makes it worldwide available.I caught it on a local Mexican t.v. channel at 4:00 a.m. and I had the kind of entertainment I expected for that hour.Recommended for people who enjoy light tragic comedies.
porbeagle_zen
I tend not to be disappointed by films, since I usually have an intuitive sense on whether it will be good or not. But "Viktor Vogel" ,or as it's known in the States, "Advertising Rules!" (??) really let me down.For the first two thirds, I was really into the movie, even though the melodrama was typical and the main conflict was telegraphed from about 500 miles away. The situations were amusing. The characters were likable. It seemed to bring up some good points about the nature of consumerism and the purpose of one's life, which is more than you can ask from any given American film. But the last third slowed down significantly, and suddenly I became very bored. The ending, however, blew me away, in the worst possible way. I imagine the filmmakers standing around the set with a deadline looming and an incomplete script: "Man, I don't know how to end this damn movie! How are we supposed to solve the conflict? It's so huge!" "Well, let's have really random things come out of nowhere so the audience will go, 'Hey, that makes me think!' And then we'll end it right there, with no explanation as to what happened in the last five minutes."Don't get me wrong, I love weird, funky twists and weird, funky movies, but "Viktor Vogel" was not able to pull it off. It was like a pilot for a network comedy, only for the last ten minutes to be written by David Lynch at 2 AM, who had not read the beginning of the script.Enjoy it for what it is, but don't get your hopes up that it gets tied together at the end.5/10
Tracey (kneazles)
As a girl from a German-Swiss background with absolutely no grasp of the German language, I just happen to ADORE this movie. I saw it on Deustchwella (I believe) a good couple of years ago, but decided to rent it from Blockbuster again. I am so glad I did -- this movie has a message and shows how people can become greedy in an ever-changing, up-to-date advertising world where being cutting edge is "in" and old fashioned is "out."Viktor Vogel is a beautifully complex character that isn't two dimensional; he actually has substance which I find that North American films are lacking in spades. You can relate to him and his quest for the perfect career as a Creative Designer in Brainstorm, and you watch his transition from good guy to executive bad guy -- only which will he choose at the end?Eddie is a great character representing old world traditions and a love for the cutting edge that was "cool" way back when. Longing for that spark to come back into advertising, he loathes Viktor's laid back approach as any elder employee who was a big shot would to a threatening younger employee.However, this movie just plain ROCKS. I love the way that the director Kraume goes from tripod to hand-held is reminiscent of Tarantino and Cuaron's styles. Overall, a 5/5 stars, even with English subtitles. After all, where else am I to learn my German better than in movies?
mondenkinder
One of the sentences you learn going to a filmschool is: "A comedy is only a comedy if someone is laughing. If nobody is laughing, then it is not a comedy. It is something else."I think this is what best fits for this film. It is a story about a young guy (Viktor Vogel, whyever this comic-name) seeking a job in a big commercial company. He finally gets there, but only because the company needs him to make a deal with Opel. After the deal has gone, he is kind of thrown out.That's the story. I don't think it's funny. Let alone all those little things like the (german) synchronization, of the mumbling voice of Götz George, of all the stereotyped characters without any depth nor wound. The film was okay if it would have been broadcast on the television. But it simply doesn't fit into a cinema room. For this it is too "small".
I'd recommend this film only for: how not to make a funny film.
