"Jürgen - Heute wird gelebt" is a German 90-minute movie from June 2017, so this one is still very new, very fresh for sure, only a bit over 3 months old. The director is Lars Jessen, a fairly prolific small screen filmmaker, pretty experienced, and the script is by Peter Güde, who has worked on quite some stuff I liked too, so my expectations for this one here weren't too low. This also has to do with Hübner and Kempter being part of the cast and I like them both. But first things first: The title character is played by Heinz Strunk and he is also a co-writer here. And even if he is probably not as well known as some of his fellow cast mates, he has been enjoying a long and successful career in all kinds of departments of the German entertainment industry. And here he shows us too that he can pull off lead performances convincingly. I also think the character suited him nicely and that sure helped things. As for the aforementioned Hübner and Kempter, they were as good as I hoped they would be. Especially Kempter, who is probably most known to many for her Tatort role, proves once again that she is among the very best Germany has to offer in terms of female supporting actors these days, and not just from her age group.
I think the best thing the film managed is the way in which it succeeded from both the fun perspective, but also the more serious perspective as loneliness plays a crucial role in here too. The title fits the subject very well here. I also think all the actors with no exception did well here and that's another reason why the film turned out this strongly. Yes there is a moment here and there that did not feel 100% authentic and realistic and really just as means for the story instead of being a vital part for the story itself, but on the opposite spectrum, there are also some truly great moments in here that make up for the weaker stuff and had these been a little more frequent (or the weaker moments a little bit less), then I would have considered giving these almost 1.5 hours an even higher rating. As a whole, it was a good watch with some great moments, but not a great watch as a whole. This, however, makes it nonetheless one of Germany's finest from 2017, especially if you restrict your search to television project. This one gets a thumbs-up from me and I think you may want to check it out. It's a little gem at times: touching, uplifting and relevant. This (and not Karl Schmist) is the 2017 Hübner movie you want to see.
I think the best thing the film managed is the way in which it succeeded from both the fun perspective, but also the more serious perspective as loneliness plays a crucial role in here too. The title fits the subject very well here. I also think all the actors with no exception did well here and that's another reason why the film turned out this strongly. Yes there is a moment here and there that did not feel 100% authentic and realistic and really just as means for the story instead of being a vital part for the story itself, but on the opposite spectrum, there are also some truly great moments in here that make up for the weaker stuff and had these been a little more frequent (or the weaker moments a little bit less), then I would have considered giving these almost 1.5 hours an even higher rating. As a whole, it was a good watch with some great moments, but not a great watch as a whole. This, however, makes it nonetheless one of Germany's finest from 2017, especially if you restrict your search to television project. This one gets a thumbs-up from me and I think you may want to check it out. It's a little gem at times: touching, uplifting and relevant. This (and not Karl Schmist) is the 2017 Hübner movie you want to see.
