Director: Maren Ade
By Alex Watson
While its running time of almost three hours may deter some, others who stick with Toni Erdmann will appreciate its off the wall brilliance. In a movie that takes in a man wearing fake teeth, a naked brunch and some fine Whitney Houston singing, director Maren Ade has created one of the sweetest and funniest efforts of 2017. Father and daughter might take centre stage, but this picture is also about how weird and wonderful families can really be.
Winfried Conradi ( Peter Simonischek) is a middle-aged divorcee who likes to play practical jokes. After losing his beloved dog, he travels to Bucharest, Romania to connect with career-minded daughter, Ines (Sandra Hüller). After struggling to fit in with her busy life, Winfried tries a drastic joke. He attempts to establish a bond with her by creating a fake teethed alter ego named Toni Erdmann.
Toni Erdmann's oddball feel is felt from the very get go. Winfried answers the door to a courier and pretends to be his imaginary brother. The bemused look of the man delivering the parcel will become a familiar sight. Winfried is a man whose penchant for gags slightly strains relations with those he is friendly with. Ines and her father are chalk and cheese in the movies early part. She comes across an uptight careerist who sees his visit as little more than an irritation. The early scenes of him attempting to lighten the mood with her equally success hungry colleagues are terrifically awkward! He jokes to her boss that he has hired a substitute daughter who will clip his toenails. There is no real hatred or stubbornness between the two, just a disappointment they keep letting the other down. Watching her father sadly drive away is a crushing feeling during the opening act.
Maren Ade is determined to let the cringe factor remain at a steady level. One scene sees Ines' lover masturbating over petit-fours. However, when Winfried's alter-ego emerges the look of shock and embarrassment on Ines' face is priceless. What begins as her loathing his presence soon turns into a sweet and wholesome tale of a father and daughter finding their way back. Ines is a little unlikeable at first due to her workaholic nature. Her whole life is about forging connections, but the one most important to her she nearly alienates due to her frustration. Winfried's Toni Erdmann is almost like a bizarre therapy experiment. One scene he jokingly 'arrests' his daughter for taking drugs, only for her to realise she will have to take him to work.
One element touched upon in Toni Erdmann is how Ines' impressions of her ambitions slowly begin to crumble. She is trying to convince her big CEO how outsourcing will save them millions. Yet in one brilliant and potent sequence, Winfried sees how her ambitions will cause thousands of layouts and possible poverty in rural areas. This could be interpreted as some form of social commentary about the economic future by Ade! Slowly her father's antics help her to see another side and soon she is belting out Whitney Houston's 'The Greatest Love of All' Once the walls have been broken down, the reserved and almost humourless woman we saw is gone. Try not to be shocked by her birthday party but please do not attempt this at home either. Maren Ade's picture is the most deserving of the Best Foreign Film Oscar nominees because few efforts have really touched us like this.
As the old jokester, Peter Simonischek is a sweet buffoonish presence. The kind of relative you would probably avoid at a reunion, Winfried is a figure you can't help but adore. His continued pranks are a source of never-ending comedic brilliance. His openness is perhaps his most endearing feature because there is no sense of malice in his Toni Erdmann, just a desire to love his daughter. Sandra Hüller is also a revelation as Ines and her multi-layered performance is one to savour. At first, an ambitious climber with little time for the old man, once she lets her guard down Hüller injects a real human side to her. Her gradual desire to be closer to her father and in some ways capture his spirit for jokes elevates Hüller performance higher. If anything, her name should have on the Best Actress list.
Toni Erdmann is unlike any piece of foreign cinema you will see in 2017. A US remake with Kristen Wiig and Jack Nicholson has already been commissioned. Enjoy this before Hollywood wrecks our memories!
No comments:
Post a Comment