Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"HERRliche Zeiten", which means roughly translated "MASTERful Times" is a new German movie from 2018 and the most recent effort by experienced Bavarian filmmaker Oskar Roehler and from what i have seen now, this is perhaps my most favorite work by him and seeing all he has done so far, that is quite a compliment for sure. The script is by Jan Berger and I appreciated some of his older works too. The original novel this is based on is by Austrian(?) writer Jan Kunkel and seeing how this adaptation turned out, it can certainly be said that it is very suitable for the medium film. I have not read the book, so consider this when reading my review here. The film runs for 110 minutes roughly and it is a definite contender for my most favorite work from 2018. You can really say that Oliver Masucci is this movie and I must say he is a phenomenon. I hardly knew him at all before his Hitler performance not too long ago and he has been a power horse in German film since then and this film adds more to it. Glad to see he got the German Film Award nomination and without having seen the actual winner's movie yet, I think he could have made a formidable winner too. This film we have here is the story of a struggling, but very wealthy married couple and the submissive butler who enters their life and takes them into a whole new world. And of the Muslim neighbor, who does exactly the same. Big changes coming. One of the most interesting aspects in here was in my opinion how really everything except his clothes was so simple about the main character, most of all the way he was talking, like a simple employee from North Rhine-Westphalia. Nothing elitist or difference-making about him, even if his professional talent may be above-average and it fits that it is a very shallow performance that got him wealthy. Huge thumbs-up for the way in which Masucci pulled it off here. Female lead Katja Riemann I am usually not a huge fan, but even she was fairly good here and had strong chemistry with Masucci too, which definitely helped the movie oevrall with all the scenes they had together. Finzi and Feryn did what they had to do without really making a major impact. When their screen time increased, that was actually the moment when the film was at its weakest, but this also had to do with the script and not with them necessarily and with that I am referring to the penultimate plot twist that reveals the duo's actual intentions early in the final third of the film. It was not too realistic I must say, even if the way they recorded all these compromising moments was handled very nicely and accurately and honestly it's not as if it was bad or anything, just not as good as everything else about the film. The penultimate shocking scene back at the rich Muslim guy's place was extremely accurate again and also made some real sense elevating the material before that, the scene when we randomly have him show the protagonist pretty brutal photographs. Also a bit daring to depict somebody of this religion the way they did going against the current pretty uncomfortable polittical climate here in Germany. He had to have something against the central character that he would not be afraid of him going to the police and talking about who this Muslim neighbor really is. And what is better than a double murder. And the very last scene feels uncomfortable in a pretty remarkable way how everything is somewhat back to normal despite all that happened. Very well done. A definite contender for best German film of 2018 for me. The dramatic moments were definitely not as good as the dark comedy, but that is just because said comedy scenes were just so brilliant and really laugh-out loud material on more than a dozen occasions, not because they are weak or anything. I really did enjoy them especially in the first half and it makes me hope to see Roehler and Berger reunite on future projects again too. Major thumbs-up for "HERRliche Zeiten". I am not sure how many people will be able to see it abroad, but if you are one of them, you really don't wanna miss out. Highly recommended. A prime example of a film that goes positively over-the-top constantly and gets away with it thanks to the talent and creativity from everybody involved.
