MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE: TONI ERDMANN (2016)

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Like just about everyone with an interest in the movies, I'm watching more films on DVD and going out to movie houses a lot less. Convenience trumps the better experience.
Of course, you lose audience interaction and the poor film now has to compete with all the comforts of home.
It's a bit like seeing Rembrandts & Titians in a book reproduction, or from posters with iffy color values, no texture or weight to the surface and the wrong dimensions . . . all while snacking on chips & soda. (Oops! You get that at your local cinema,too.)
The ease of instant movie gratification risks turning an art form (well, sometimes) into little more than low-grade eye-candy & mindfodder. So, maybe it's worthwhile to write a bit down on what we're all viewing, just to keep fully engaged.

DVDs: the latest opiate of the people meets the internet, where everyone's a critic.
God help us.

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Thursday, September 12, 2024

TONI ERDMANN (2016)

Exceptionally well-received German dramedy (widowed Dad resorts to wacky subterfuge to reconnect with distanced business-oriented single daughter) seemingly had it all. Big grosses, stellar reviews, a cache of awards (including an Oscar® nom.), Hollywood remake pickup with Kristen Wiig & the retired Jack Nicholson attached. Yet, whatever was seen at the time, the film has gone ‘off’ faster than a gutted fish in the summer heat. Prolific German producer Maren Ade, occasionally writes & directs, as here, apparently trying for an AUNTIE MAME meets MORGAN vibe*, but can’t find a tone to let Peter Simonischek’s shaggy life-force Dad barge into his uptight daughter’s life (she’s a business liaison exec working in Bucharest) without coming off as a stalker, an embarrassing pest who can’t stop himself from inflicting unfunny practical jokes on a humorless daughter. This time, his bag of tricks has him in disguise as a bewigged character named Toni Erdmann, supposed life coach to masters-of-the-universe corporate titans. Structured as a series of unfortunate events, he tags along on her meetings (looking like he hasn’t bathed in a month) while she acts as if he’s not physically there. (And good luck with that!) Eventually, she’ll crack, which is what he was hoping for; anything to jog her out of her workplace rut. Career competition passing for sex and companionship. And while Dad was triggered to spontaneously reenter her life after his old dog died, daughter Sandra Hüller will succumb at a birthday party where she sheds her clothes in lieu of shedding her skin. You too may wish to molt after seeing this.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A unified acting style for the cast or an hour less running time (it’s over two and a half hours!) might have given a more stylish director enough wiggle room to put this over.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *No doubt you know AUNTIE MAME/’58, but MORGAN/’66 can be summarized as a sanity-challenged ‘Mod’ era London romance. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/auntie-mame-1958.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/05/morgan-suitable-case-for-treatment-1966.html

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Thursday, September 12, 2024

TONI ERDMANN (2016)

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