"Zwillinge oder Nimm dir ein Beispiel an Evelin" (yes Germans can "oder" titles too), which means something like "Twins or Take Evelyn as an Example" is a movie from 1979, so this one had its 40th anniversary last year and I will spare you the names of the director and two writers here as you can check these out for yourself. Let me say though that all 3 of them weren't rookies, but also not too prolific, so even if you really are into German films, then probably you have not come across any of them. Their combined effort here is not a long movie at all as this one stays under the 75-minute mark, which also shows maybe that this was mostly made for younger audiences and they wanted to make sure that the teenagers' concentration is there until the very end. This is a film about twins as the title already gives away. But even if they are really close genetically, they could not be any furter away from each other when it comes to basically everything else. They do not even look that much alike, most of all because of the different haircuts, but also I think the child actresses did a fine job here as it was also the ways in which they portrayed their characters that made a difference. And of course, character-wise they could not be any more different too. One of them is really reserved, really calm and a great observer, who never causes any trouble to her parents. The other is a rather wild girl, who is a bit messed-up and far from being as perfect as her sis, but she is still very likable, maybe even the more likable from the duo. They sometimes also go a bit against each other must be said, but when it counts, just like near the end when one of them accidentally leaves her mother's coat in the train, they do stick together 100% and help each other and are there for each other.
This is a solid movie, propelled by the two lead performances, especially the one by the wild child from the two. If there is something, that is not to like, then maybe I'd say it is the very last scene when we have one of the girls talk to her mothr how she really feels about things and how she is treated because the mother is clearly more proud of the other daughter it seems, even to an extent where the father has to say something. So if there is anything close to a main antagonist, then it would be the mother with how she occasionally treats the protagonist. Really not likable or fair and it is easy to despise her. Still at the end, e have the two cry and hug each other because the mother realizes her fault when the girl tells her she was so scared about disappointing her mother again when she lost the coat and how the mother would react that she considered jumping off a bridge. Okay, this is what I meant when I said I did not like the ending too much. That was maybe a little exaggerated drama-wise honestly and also felt as if it went against the overall tone from this film. Also it is one of the examples when you could feel a bit that what they were saying was scripted and most of the time before that (not always), it felt authentic as if I was watching actual people and that definitely was a success. One thing I found confusing was how they got the father out of the picture that he was about to go for treatment at a health resort and they probably did it, so they could emphasize the mother-daughter(s) relationship. I am sure they could have found a better way though when it comes to the dad. And also a better elaboration about the mother-daughter relationship because to me it did not feel as if this was as much in the center quality-wise as the filmmakers wanted it to be, even if it is so prominently featured here that it is impossible to ignore. However, I preferred for example the story about the struggling girl improving with her singing and feeling appreciated, even if from a neutral perspective it is tough to believe how good she was in the end and how weak she was early on. Also not too nice that the other kids were laughing so hard and maybe the teacher should have pit an end to this. Then again, nobody is laughing now. At the end I mean. Overall, a good, but not great watch. If there is one thing the GDR was good at, then it was making old fairytale movies back in the day, but looking at this one here, you can extend this description to kids films. I suggest you check it out. I give it a thumbs-up.
This is a solid movie, propelled by the two lead performances, especially the one by the wild child from the two. If there is something, that is not to like, then maybe I'd say it is the very last scene when we have one of the girls talk to her mothr how she really feels about things and how she is treated because the mother is clearly more proud of the other daughter it seems, even to an extent where the father has to say something. So if there is anything close to a main antagonist, then it would be the mother with how she occasionally treats the protagonist. Really not likable or fair and it is easy to despise her. Still at the end, e have the two cry and hug each other because the mother realizes her fault when the girl tells her she was so scared about disappointing her mother again when she lost the coat and how the mother would react that she considered jumping off a bridge. Okay, this is what I meant when I said I did not like the ending too much. That was maybe a little exaggerated drama-wise honestly and also felt as if it went against the overall tone from this film. Also it is one of the examples when you could feel a bit that what they were saying was scripted and most of the time before that (not always), it felt authentic as if I was watching actual people and that definitely was a success. One thing I found confusing was how they got the father out of the picture that he was about to go for treatment at a health resort and they probably did it, so they could emphasize the mother-daughter(s) relationship. I am sure they could have found a better way though when it comes to the dad. And also a better elaboration about the mother-daughter relationship because to me it did not feel as if this was as much in the center quality-wise as the filmmakers wanted it to be, even if it is so prominently featured here that it is impossible to ignore. However, I preferred for example the story about the struggling girl improving with her singing and feeling appreciated, even if from a neutral perspective it is tough to believe how good she was in the end and how weak she was early on. Also not too nice that the other kids were laughing so hard and maybe the teacher should have pit an end to this. Then again, nobody is laughing now. At the end I mean. Overall, a good, but not great watch. If there is one thing the GDR was good at, then it was making old fairytale movies back in the day, but looking at this one here, you can extend this description to kids films. I suggest you check it out. I give it a thumbs-up.