Toni Erdmann

 

 

Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?

It was one of those ones that just passes you by on its release. Work and other commitments flare up at the wrong time and before you know it the film has finished its limited run at the local arthouse whilst film Twitter has moved onto something else. I kept meaning to come back to it but pitching the idea of a three-hour long German comedy to others is, sadly, a hard sell. 

And? 

So, it's not outrageously funny, nor is it even, if one is being honest, laugh out loud funny. It certainly has its hilarious moments but the film is three hours long, the laughs are somewhat spread out. It is definitely an enjoyable comedy, but one that, for all its use of cringe for humour knocks it out of the park when it comes to pathos and warmth. And although one would argue those two things are somewhat the opposite of each other, the mix of the two is crucial.

 

 

What I found most curious about the film was the way it chose to play with generational relationships. Primarily of course, that of parents and their children but also of older bosses and younger employees. Winfried is a man simply attempting to establish a bond with his daughter; sadly he's a father who never left behind the Dad jokes and she's a daughter who has bought fully into the modern folly of defining oneself by one's job. She in-turn is desperate to gain the affection of her paymasters, in her case a boss who is intrigued and terrified in equal measure of the blue-sky approaches he thinks he should be buying into. If there's one western nation where this interplay between generations carries some extra textual heft, its in Germany.

"You have to do this or that, but meanwhile life is just passing by" 

 

 

 

The other interesting thing about the film is the mature way in which the characters have been portrayed. Winfried is on some level, a buffoon, a bluffer and an outright annoyance. Yet, the film refuses to let him be a clown. Similarly, it would be easy to let his daughter Ines become the bad-guy in this scenario, a cold-corporate shell indifferent to the actions of her lovable father. Instead, as we enter the third act we see that they're both struggling to come to terms with a shared truth. Both of them, indeed everyone in the film, is harboring a disappointment in what they've made of themselves. The film then offers a glimmer of hope, that family can offer meaning in a world rendered meaningless by corporate globalisation.

Will You Be Watching It Again?

Definitely a case of "I'll watch it if its on", this is not a criticism, I think I've made it pretty clear I enjoyed it. But I'm simply no longer the man of leisure that I was in my teens or twenties, re-watching three hour long German comedies is not a habit I have the time to be giving. If they ever get around to completing that American remake I'll be sure to give that a watch.

Has Any Light Been Shone on Some Heretofore Unknown Bit of Pop Culture?

No - this one is a bit too new to have made it into the popular culture, at least the bits I've seen. And the peach from Call Me By Your Name has probably stolen the semen-limelight from Toni Erdmann's petit fours.