Toni Erdmann (2016)

[weekender]

Ordinarily, if I saw the following list I would probably be put off:

• German Comedy
• Over 2.5 hours
• Includes dead dog

However, this is one of the funniest, cleverest, maudlin, but overall downright enjoyable and uplifting films I have seen in a long time.

First and foremost, the two main characters are fantastic - 'Man' and 'Daughter' (sorry, couldn't be bothered Binging their names) - play their respective roles superbly, but there's a whole host of supporting cast who play their roles equally brilliantly.  The plot works as well - it sounds a bit simplistic and tropey ('Man' goes to find 'Daughter'), but it really works.

It's hard to describe, but there's room enough here for every actor to breathe, and it gives you a real sense of their character's purpose.  I thought I would be bored with that is supposed to be a "German comedy film that's 2.5 hours long", but I'm not, I'm engaged.

I want to understand more about everyone, I want to see even more of their backstory.  I want to laugh with them, I want to cry with them, I want to inflict violence on some of the supporting characters, but I can't do that too much because they're fleshed out as well. 

Characters play off against other characters brilliantly.

Honestly, this film is an utter gem.

Can't say much more without using spoilers, but if you get a chance to see this, you really should.

[another Mr. Lizard]

I'll be introducing a matinee screening of this in Derby on Wednesday. Saw it last week in preparation and am looking forward to a second go.

It took me about two hours of the two hours forty two minute running time just to pick up the tone of the piece, which when I mulled over the movie later that day, made me realise I'd possibly not appreciated it fully at the time. Plenty of laughs on that first viewing anyway, though (every time Winfried

Spoiler alert

put in or removed his dentures

[close]

, for starters).

Am expecting to enjoy this a lot next time, already anticipating the

Spoiler alert

letterbomb

[close]

and

Spoiler alert

fake persona

[close]

stuff with the postie in the opening scene.

Haven't written any notes for my intro yet and honestly don't know what to say about it at the moment. My preferred description of Winfried as a sort of one-man Marx Bros might be seen as way off beam, though I think his quiet rampages through business and social situations (not to mention his

Spoiler alert

keyboard skills

[close]

) justify the comment.

[zomgmouse]

I quite liked this and thought it was very good but I was a bit puzzled at the overwhelming critical adulation thrown its way. At no point did I think it was overly groundbreaking or doing something other family dramedies haven't done before, except perhaps in terms of certain scenarios. I definitely enjoyed it - it was good, but I didn't think it was great.

[Wet Blanket]

I thought it was great, funny in an awkward sort of way, but undercut with melancholy. I imagine this is the sort of thing Ricky Gervais thinks he makes.

[QDRPHNC]

Hated it.

Suffered from the modern movie disease of mistaking tedium for authenticity.

[Glebe]

Jack Nicholson, Kristen Wiig to Star in 'Toni Erdmann' Remake (EXCLUSIVE).

That was quick.

[Blinder Data]

I really, really enjoyed this. I loved how real everything about it felt, apart from the more farcical but still brilliant

Spoiler alert

naked brunch party

[close]

.

Like you say, the length didn't really bother me. It was like an unspooling piece of yarn, each scene unwinding into the next totally naturally.

The acting was fantastic, especially Ines. What a performance. I laughed like a loon during the

Spoiler alert

Whitney Houston bit

[close]

. The way she went from nervousness to resignation, and then slowly getting into it despite herself. Bravo.

There was so much going on in this film, so many different readings to be made from it. It would benefit from a rewatch.

As the director said in a recent Guardian interview, it would be a totally different film if viewed at home on a laptop instead of in a cinema auditorium full of people. One reason to get out there and see it while you can!

A modern Euro-classic.

[BlodwynPig]

If you like German comedy, I recommend this film.



Rudi the running pig 2: Rudi runs again!

[Shit Good Nose]

Kermode was ejaculating over this on BBC News 24 last night.  His opening spiel was pretty much verbatim what weekender opened this thread with.

Having seen the trailer, I must confess I think it looks terrible, but then every single person I know who has seen the film, and all of the critics, say that it's one of the worst trailers ever made.

If you like German comedy, I recommend this film.



Rudi the running pig 2: Rudi runs again!

You're only recommending that cos Warner promised that they'd box it up with Mino2aur for the UK DVD release...

[Puce Moment]

It was my film of 2016, beating out The Witch which I assumed was safely my no.1 film.

It is tonally hard to define, but I would say the extended 'nude' scene really does elevate it from wonderful to great.

[BlodwynPig]

It was my film of 2016, beating out The Witch which I assumed was safely my no.1 film.

It is tonally hard to define, but I would say the extended 'nude' scene really does elevate it from wonderful to great.

Rudi is naked for the whole film.

[hewantstolurkatad]

I think there's a far better comedy/drama to be made around similar concepts with that duration (but it sure as fuck won't be that American remake). The pacing is everything tbh, with digital being the default for movies now it's something that should be happening a lot more. It's gently amusing throughout but never hilarious, the emotional core wasn't as strong as it should've been (and my dad was pretty Winfried-like).

I dunno, it's grand. Feel like I must've missed something absolutely huge but at the same time I'm pretty confident I didn't. Certainly wouldn't say anyone shouldn't go to it, find it very hard to imagine anyone disliking it.

[Howj Begg]

Like several other posters here, I was scratching my head about the hype on this one, until we got the 2 hour mark when when it upped a gear with

Spoiler alert

the Whitney and nude scenes

[close]

, and in retrospect it changed my view of the film. But it is fairly... prosaic up until that point. But I actually think this works in its favour ultimately - I think it has rewatch value, because the earlier scenes are extremely subtle comedically, and they are pretty frustrating to any viewer who wants immediate payoffs.

[Small Man Big Horse]

SPOILERS BELOW FOR ANYONE WHO'S NOT SEEN IT YET.

Like several other posters here, I was scratching my head about the hype on this one, until we got the 2 hour mark when when it upped a gear with

Spoiler alert

the Whitney and nude scenes

[close]

, and in retrospect it changed my view of the film. But it is fairly... prosaic up until that point. But I actually think this works in its favour ultimately - I think it has rewatch value, because the earlier scenes are extremely subtle comedically, and they are pretty frustrating to any viewer who wants immediate payoffs.

I've just finished this today and am in the same camp as you. I think it's fairly enjoyable and offers some insight in to life but the first two hours are a mixed bag and I definitely feel it was overhyped. I was a bit annoyed by the ending too, after the Whitney song and the nude scene it just cuts to the funeral, includes some pat philosophising and then finishes, and I did get the feeling that the director didn't really know how to end the piece.

[Blinder Data]

I think if you watch this at home on your laptop/TV by yourself it will be a totally different and much less enjoyable experience than a small auditorium of increasingly baffled but amused cinemagoers.

Toni Erdmann benefits hugely from having other people with you to accept over time the film's more absurd aspects. I would have switched off halfway through if I hadn't seen it at the cinema; instead I was ready to give it a standing ovation at the end of the Whitney performance.

[Puce Moment]

I think if you watch this at home on your laptop/TV by yourself it will be a totally different and much less enjoyable experience than a small auditorium of increasingly baffled but amused cinemagoers.

Toni Erdmann benefits hugely from having other people with you to accept over time the film's more absurd aspects. I would have switched off halfway through if I hadn't seen it at the cinema; instead I was ready to give it a standing ovation at the end of the Whitney performance.

I think this is a brilliant summation - when it first came out it was almost underhyped as a light comedy with generational difference issues (a sort of updating of Tokyo Story). When I saw it in the cinema it was truly wonderful experiencing the same genre/plotting confusion as others. It is a simple film with incredibly odd tangents that for me somehow manages to be very emotional. Perhaps being disarmed by its oddness (if unexpected) makes the emotional thrust of the film more powerful or unexpected. I then watched this with my wife (MY WIFE!) and it was fun watching her come to terms with the tone of the film.