"Herzlichen Glückwunsch" (German term for "Conngratulations") is a German television film from 2005. This means it has its 15th anniversary this year and as it originally aired in summer, it happened already. The writer and director was Berno Kürten and you could say that this film here was basically from the middle of his career. He is still making films nowadays (Traumschiff), but began as a filmmaker for a tour by German pop singer Nena considerably earlier. This film here is evidence though that he may not be the most talented director out there. And it is also pretty fitting that this movie is from the year 2005 because the first decade of the new millennium was probably when he was at his worst, not that he really delivered quality-wise before or after this decade, but still. He made many of these horrible films back then it seemed, most of those for ARD and its smaller stations. Degeto stuff. As weak as it gets. Anyway, not too often that you see the same writer and director for those films, so this is a bit of an exception here, but then again Kürten almost always wrote the screenplays for his directorial efforts too, so not surprising either. The cast here includes many older actors that German film buffs will immediately recognize. Lead actress Landgrebe is maybe the biggest name from the cast although I always thought she was overrated. She may be above-average attractive for her age, but she also has a tendency to play the same character in every movie. Show the same mannerisms. No indicator for versatility. She also kept appearing in more and more of these Degeto films in the last 10-15 years, which definitely does not say anything too positive about her. One actress you see on the poster is Irm Hermann, who died not too long ago and who is always easy to identify and of course this is because she was one of the regulars in Fassbinder's films decades earlier. However, it is also true for her that in the 2000s she appeared in many films where she shouldn't have, but I guess Degeto pays well with all their money from the German people that they force them to pay. As for Hermann (always have to check if one r or two), her role her is truly minimal. She is only featured in the second half and even there she has almost no screen time at all and maybe five sentences where she is at the center of the movie for a brief moment. And sadly, even there her line delivery is far from great. I will not say this much about all the other supporting players. You can check out the list for yourself. However, Kreye, Mendl and Trowe (the latter really old, the two guys slightly younger) and also performers that German film buffs will remember their faces. Maybe their names too, but not always. The two guys are still alive, but Trowe isn't, but this is no surprise either. From her black-and-white photo you can see that she has been in the industry for a long time, actually acted in the 1940s already, so considerably over half a century before this film got made.
As you can see froom my rating, I am really not big on this movie at all. This should surprise nobody though because here we got a collaboration between the two worst production companies for German small screen releases: ARD Deggeto and Regina Ziegler Film. Even when only one of them is only part of films, then it is almost always a guarantee that the movie sucks, but with both there is no denying whatsoever. This one turned out exactly as I expected. Many cringeworthy moments and pseudo drama. Let me see what i still remember. i wish I could forget about this mess as soon as possible. One scene is of course where the bucked with color falls down on Landgrebe's character right into her hair. This wwas supposed to be funny I believe, but it was no such thing. Every time this movie went for comedy, it went horribly wrong. The moments when it is slightly funny is when it is unintentionally funny because it is really so bad and they were serious with it. One example that perfectly fits this description is when Landgrebe's character opens the door and sees her daughter's new boyfriend. A Black guy. And what happens next? She falls unconscious. Yeah, right. So what does this imply? That she is a hardcore racist? Not really because for some strange reason this is not an issue anymore at all and the young couple gets almost zero inclusion and screen time. Very bizarre. But a bit of a pity too because Johanna Klante is fairly attractive and if I say that as somebody who is usually not too much into blondes, then it means something. What else is there to mention? Ah yes, as for the aforementioned young couple, we get the information at the very end that the woman is pregnant. Typical example of a rushed-in plot inclusion for a happy ending as you see them so often. This is also as almost always with Regina Ziegler (is Daniela Ziegler related to her? she is in many RZ productions) a movie mostly for female audiences. So applaud these female audience members especially if they see through this charade and see it for the mess it is overall. The protagonist is female as well and in order for us to not forget how amazing Landgrebe's character is and how she is a successful woman who gets stuff done, we also get a bit of a jealousy story in the second half when a former lover of her shows up. He has a much younger partner now, but still we know that the one he really wanted is Landgrebe's character. Obviously. This story really gets as terrible as it gets during the musical chairs sequence. If you know what I mean. In German we say "Reise nach Jerusalem" / "Journey to Jerusalem". The ways in which the two males there look at each other. Cringe is real. Sigh. Mendl is also in far too many of these trashy movies than he should be. And his character also gets another pseudo drama inclusion at the very end, namely when he collapses, but of course it's nothing really and he is healthy immediately again. Okay, that is pretty much all I have to say about this really bad movie. There could be more, but the key message would not change that this film is almost unwatchable at times and deserves the lowest rating possible overall. Don't give out ones. The first half is basically the preparation for a big birthday party or maybe almost the first two thirds and the final sehment then is the actual party. You can literally see how they tried so hard to make this party seem interesting, dramatic, full of conflicts, but boy did they come short. Everything felt so vain, shallow and uninteresting. This also implies to the political correctness inclusion linked to a homosexual character (or completely aside from that, the moment Landgrebe's character says oh yes he will become a pilot. what he wants himself, is totally irrelevant if this mesmerizing female authority decides). His story linked to acceptance is also as uninspired as it gets. A movie you wanna skip 100%. Highly not recommended.
As you can see froom my rating, I am really not big on this movie at all. This should surprise nobody though because here we got a collaboration between the two worst production companies for German small screen releases: ARD Deggeto and Regina Ziegler Film. Even when only one of them is only part of films, then it is almost always a guarantee that the movie sucks, but with both there is no denying whatsoever. This one turned out exactly as I expected. Many cringeworthy moments and pseudo drama. Let me see what i still remember. i wish I could forget about this mess as soon as possible. One scene is of course where the bucked with color falls down on Landgrebe's character right into her hair. This wwas supposed to be funny I believe, but it was no such thing. Every time this movie went for comedy, it went horribly wrong. The moments when it is slightly funny is when it is unintentionally funny because it is really so bad and they were serious with it. One example that perfectly fits this description is when Landgrebe's character opens the door and sees her daughter's new boyfriend. A Black guy. And what happens next? She falls unconscious. Yeah, right. So what does this imply? That she is a hardcore racist? Not really because for some strange reason this is not an issue anymore at all and the young couple gets almost zero inclusion and screen time. Very bizarre. But a bit of a pity too because Johanna Klante is fairly attractive and if I say that as somebody who is usually not too much into blondes, then it means something. What else is there to mention? Ah yes, as for the aforementioned young couple, we get the information at the very end that the woman is pregnant. Typical example of a rushed-in plot inclusion for a happy ending as you see them so often. This is also as almost always with Regina Ziegler (is Daniela Ziegler related to her? she is in many RZ productions) a movie mostly for female audiences. So applaud these female audience members especially if they see through this charade and see it for the mess it is overall. The protagonist is female as well and in order for us to not forget how amazing Landgrebe's character is and how she is a successful woman who gets stuff done, we also get a bit of a jealousy story in the second half when a former lover of her shows up. He has a much younger partner now, but still we know that the one he really wanted is Landgrebe's character. Obviously. This story really gets as terrible as it gets during the musical chairs sequence. If you know what I mean. In German we say "Reise nach Jerusalem" / "Journey to Jerusalem". The ways in which the two males there look at each other. Cringe is real. Sigh. Mendl is also in far too many of these trashy movies than he should be. And his character also gets another pseudo drama inclusion at the very end, namely when he collapses, but of course it's nothing really and he is healthy immediately again. Okay, that is pretty much all I have to say about this really bad movie. There could be more, but the key message would not change that this film is almost unwatchable at times and deserves the lowest rating possible overall. Don't give out ones. The first half is basically the preparation for a big birthday party or maybe almost the first two thirds and the final sehment then is the actual party. You can literally see how they tried so hard to make this party seem interesting, dramatic, full of conflicts, but boy did they come short. Everything felt so vain, shallow and uninteresting. This also implies to the political correctness inclusion linked to a homosexual character (or completely aside from that, the moment Landgrebe's character says oh yes he will become a pilot. what he wants himself, is totally irrelevant if this mesmerizing female authority decides). His story linked to acceptance is also as uninspired as it gets. A movie you wanna skip 100%. Highly not recommended.
