"Südsee, eigene Insel" or "Our Island in the South Pacific" is a German movie from 1999, so this one is already over 15 years old. It runs for 90 minutes roughly and the writer and director is Thomas Bahmann. It is still one of his most known works, but maybe not his most known. There are some serious components in the plot here, like burglary, financial ruin etc., but honestly even these are really in it just for comedic purposes as well. It's 99% comedy. The cast includes a whole lot of known names, most of them even more known in the late 1990s than today, but the likes of lead actor Knaup, Sawatzki, Lara, Potente, Korittke, Becker and others are also known today to everybody with an interest in German cinema. The story, and film in general, is only partially on par with the cast list. This is the story of a somewhat wealthy businessman who loses all his money and he cannot go to holidays with his family because he cant afford it. So after getting sent away by an aunt, he just decides it is time to spend the holidays in the basement, so that the rich neighbors will not see that they got no money all of a sudden. Solid plot, but I am not sure if it is enough for a full feature film. Maybe a 35-minute short film may have been sufficient.
But it's not a weak outcome either. Knaup carries the film for the most part and it's nice to see he also has decent comedic talent and timing which I did not really expect. Sawatzki and Lara, however, are not that great with comedy and they really only shine during these moments when the script is at its best regarding their characters. There are certainly also weak moments, but in favor of the two actresses you can also say that the script sometimes doesn't do them any favors. For example the story of Sawatzki's character wondering about divorcing her man because he is poor all of a sudden and makes her character look extremely unlikable. There are other weak moments in the script and a huge problem for the film in general (maybe the biggest problem) is the inclusion of scenes and developments that have little to do with reality, but sacrifice every realistic reference for (sometimes not too funny) comedic purposes. And this is where the film its rock-bottom. Luckily, thanks to Knaup and occasionally better writing, the movie also has its strong moments and, even if it is very close, I think these good moments are slightly more frequent than the bad moments. It's a really close call, but I recommend this one to everybody who likes German comedies. Thumbs up, a cautious thumbs-up.
But it's not a weak outcome either. Knaup carries the film for the most part and it's nice to see he also has decent comedic talent and timing which I did not really expect. Sawatzki and Lara, however, are not that great with comedy and they really only shine during these moments when the script is at its best regarding their characters. There are certainly also weak moments, but in favor of the two actresses you can also say that the script sometimes doesn't do them any favors. For example the story of Sawatzki's character wondering about divorcing her man because he is poor all of a sudden and makes her character look extremely unlikable. There are other weak moments in the script and a huge problem for the film in general (maybe the biggest problem) is the inclusion of scenes and developments that have little to do with reality, but sacrifice every realistic reference for (sometimes not too funny) comedic purposes. And this is where the film its rock-bottom. Luckily, thanks to Knaup and occasionally better writing, the movie also has its strong moments and, even if it is very close, I think these good moments are slightly more frequent than the bad moments. It's a really close call, but I recommend this one to everybody who likes German comedies. Thumbs up, a cautious thumbs-up.