Türkisch für Anfänger (2012) User Reviews

A plane-crash doesn't have to be bad luck

[haris-cengic · 7/10 · 12 March 2012]

There are two main reasons, why i've chosen to see this movie - first there's the funny TV-Show, finished a while ago and the very well chosen scenes from the trailer shown in cinemas. Compared to the TV-Show, the movie isn't less nor more funny - refreshed with new jokes according to the present situation in Germany (and the world).

The actors are the same - it's the story that's told in a different way - awesome decision and thrilling plane crash (like seen in trailers). Actually, the crash let me go out of the movie with a bad attitude towards flying... Nevertheless, that's where the fun begins and you start to enjoy the movie, the Germans, the turks and the Greek. The end is predictable for those who've seen the show, but it is not taking the joy.

Funny, funny, funny and entertaining 'til the credits!

Back to the beginning

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 23 February 2021]

Turkish for Beginners - well in this case the movie does try to go back in time. And give us a new story with the same characters overall. I thought I'd catch up with the TV show and watch the movie afterwards (chronologically speaking that made sense). But you'll fast realize that not much makes sense.

While you might consider this a neat trick to give us the same ticks but a different set of circumstances ... it might have also been neat to see where the characters went after the end of the tv show ... which I guess was considered a neat ending - a little bit of a fairy tale if you will, that does not need any further stories. By releasing this 4 years after the initial show ended the characters are now farther removed from the real age of the actors portraying them. Which is nothing new if you've seen any US teen comedy/show/movie in general, where the actors are also much older than the characters they play.

These are all circumstantial of course ... the real issues are the story and jokes. Very cliche and almost the opposite the show achieved. Predictable too and mostly unfunny, this still might sway you since we came to love or at least know those characters for such a long time ... not sure what this will do to first time viewers, even though it's not necessary to have seen the TV show at all

Meh.

[hotdogbebitis · 6/10 · 10 May 2015]

The acting was nice, not too enjoyable, but still nice.

The story was pretty plain, but in a good way, thought, I don't remember how it started, so I have no idea what to say about that strange old(?) lady with blonde hair and her transition into the main story.

To me, the characters were very interesting, but not enough to remember their names. The main cast (as I understand - the 2 males and 2 females) was different enough to enjoy them.

Overall (not like I said much anyway), the movie was funny enough for me, but to be honest, I wouldn't suggest it to anyone else.

Sad

[Falconeer · 3/10 · 19 July 2015]

I really liked the TV show; it was funny, and sweet, and mostly realistic. Everything came together in a believable way, and the slowly developing relationship between Cem & Lena was actually romantic.

This awful movie is NONE of those things. The entire story has been changed, and Cem and Lena meet on a tropical island after their plane to Thailand crashes in the Indian Ocean. The two families just happen to be on the same plane. The movie is a poorly realized gimmick, that takes the same actors/characters from a much loved TV series, and recreates their entire history. For fans it is a slap in the face, and I cannot imagine any fan of the show not HATING this stupid movie. The comedy is so unfunny that I felt embarrassed for the actors, and the music is cheesy and terrible too. Oh, and the 'romance' has been replaced with sexual attraction. What worked on television does not work on the big screen. I guess this is what happens when you condense a long story into 90 minutes. On a side note, I used to like the actor Elyas M'Barek. After this one, not so much; they made a fool of him in this one. And Costa, my favorite character from the show, is called a "retard" more than 50 times, by everyone in the cast. The real Cem from the series would never have made fun of his best friends speech problem. This whole production is just cheesy, sleazy and disgusting..

A horrible debut movie

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 15 July 2015]

"Türkisch für Anfänger" is a German film from 3 years ago that is actually a spin-off from a really successful German television series. I have not seen that series, but it's really hard for me to believe that they made it work looking at how big a mess this film has become. The writer and director is Bora Dagtekin and he was also the creator of the television show. You may know him better from his recent film "Fack Ju Göhte", one of the most commercially successful German movies of all time and of course they will make a sequel soon. But back to this one here. The biggest problem is definitely the script. Hardly a single line feels authentic that it's really coming from the character and not just an actor pretending to say it. Of course this also has to do with the talent (or lack thereof) from the lead actors Josefine Preuß and Elyas M'Barek.

They thought to make this somewhat special by putting all the action on a tropic island, but they really failed here. The banter by the protagonists and the constant question on how masculine is too masculine and how emancipated the female character has to be in order to be respected but not annoying is pretty bad. It's sad to see how this film actually takes itself so seriously at times and at other times is trying so hard to be funny. And it fails on all fronts. One of the worst parts would be when that guy kisses the mother of Preuß' character at the end, but it still can be worse. The worst moment of all is when the mother tells the daughter that she is glad that her daughter finally did drugs. Like wtf? Then again, it's just the tip of the iceberg. There are embarrassing scenes every couple minutes. Truly embarrassing. Not just uninteresting and unrealistic, but really even way worse than that. Probably the worst German movie of 2012 and it's quite a shame it's actually among the most known from that year too as it really gives a bad name to German cinema. Highly recommended to stay away.

OMG is this BAD!

[bwdude · 1/10 · 4 September 2012]

In fact, there is no measurement HOW bad this is!

It starts with the most dreadful "acting" I have seen in along time, and this goes for every single character in the movie. It's like they asked random people right off the street if they'd like to be in a movie.

The story is harebrained and stupid. Not a single line of the dialog is even remotely funny, every second of it is so embarrassing, you feel ashamed for watching it.

It's playing with the lowest of clichés possible and failing even at that.

I admit, I walked out after 20 minutes of pain but I am absolutely sure it did not get any better after that.

Oh, and did I already mention how bad the acting is?

VERY FUNNY! Self-Irony & Dry Sense of Humor :)

[missdiana2002 · 10/10 · 23 March 2014]

OK, I don't know what kind of Humor these other critics have but I thought it was very funny!!! Stereotypes or not, Stereotypes are Stereotypes for a reason. Don't take it all so serious. I loved the dry sense of humor and their sometimes wrong, sometimes just filled with sassy remark kind of conversations, where the chemistry is just bubbling waiting to explode. I bought the DVD and have watched it probably 3x in the last 2 weeks. See for yourself. Just watch the Trailer and you'll see :) The Movie as well as the TV-Show contains a lot of irony and on purpose but in a fun and self-ironic way makes fun of stereotypes as well as the Person's own Personalities. The four getting stranded on a lonesome Island couldn't be more different from each other yet they bond and - yeah, I won't spoil it :)

Ohhh NOOO!

[Titan-K · 1/10 · 27 August 2013]

Stay away from this movie except you want to learn something about (the non-existence of) German humor(e.g. for social-anthropological investigations).

I don't know how one could put more stereotypes, idiotic clichés and stupidity in a movie. Why are German movies rarely funny? Do they have bad screenwriters? Or do they lack the ability to pick the right ones? I don't know. It seems to me, however, that there is a huge marked for good screenwriters.

An advice for those who are forced to watch this movie: Keep in mind that someone tried to be funny! The fact that they miserably failed can be mildly entertaining.

Wieso?

[hardy-soul · 4/10 · 1 June 2021]

Wieso hat man die Story neu erfunden und die Serie komplett ignoriert?

Wieso wirkt alles so unnatürlich? Es ist nichts von der Atmoshpere der Serie zu spüren. Die einzigen Personen die an dem Film gut sind, sind die Schauspieler sind. Die können leider nichts dafür, dass die Story so Kacke ist... Alle anderen haben leider komplett versagt und scheinen Null Talent zu haben... Schade..