Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is a 1.5-year-old movie which runs for roughly 100 minutes and was written and directed by Axel Ranisch. It's a good example that you do not need a super-famous cast to make a good movie. Nobody here is really known with the exception of Rosa von Praunheim playing himself in one scene. Still, there are some very experienced actors in here (the parents), but the actor who plays the protagonist, the chubby boy, has never been in a movie before. I have to say this film began really weak for me with the "Sexualverkehr" song, possibly the weakest moment of the movie. In general, I have to say I did not like the music in this movie too much. It was all so much in your face and a bit subtlety would not have hurt. The film is also named after a song used in the movie, but this was not that bad. Thankfully it wasn't as it got played on several occasions.In terms of subtlety, they at least nailed the humor. Watching the Herbst family during their daily life was almost always somewhat entertaining. This is a dramedy as the mother of the boy has a severe health condition quickly, so the film is mostly about his relationship with his dad. He has always had a better relationship with his mother because she did most of the bringing-up while the father had to work and mother and son also had similar tastes in general and just got along really well. Well.. this was going to change after the stroke obviously. Apart from the changing father-son relationship, things also get complicated when the kid discovers his (homo)sexuality and his dad will also have to get along with this now. And apart from that, this film is also dealing with the loss of a loves one. Quite some grief in here. Finally, I would like to say that this was a pretty good film to watch and I want to give a big thumbs-up to Heiko Pinkowski who carried this film from start to finish. I will keep an eye out for future projects of him.
