"Guglhupfgeschwader" is a German theatrical movie from 2022, so really fresh and new and this could not be any truer here because this film has its wide release today. However, in several German cities, the film was already shown over the course of the last few days and this included Hamburg for example where it was at an open-air cinema and Berlin where it was at an indoor cinema and here I got to watch it a couple days ago. The occasion was that the key people of this film were touring the country and basically presenting it to audiences. They also did something like that for the previous films, but I will get to that a little later. There was an interviewer from the production company and the director Ed Herzog as well as Rita Falk who wrote all the books these films are based on and finally also three cast members, namely the two guys you see on the imdb poster and the woman who plays the biggest female character in this franchise. They also did a little special by handing a gift, several cinema tickets I think, to the youngest member in the audience. And they were joking around a bit, telling us about connections everybody has/had with Berlin. Herzog has lived here for a long time. Potthoff was born here, but left as an infant and that is it. Schwarz brought in some Austrian humor and they discussed the meaning of schmäh while I still think Bezzel looks so incredibly young really. He is the lead actor. Difficult to believe he is already in his early 50s now. I hope the series keeps running for a little longer because I am still enjoying these films. This was the eight film already in ten years, so extremely prolific, even throughout the pandemic and they were also joking a bit about this longevity and that the only series comparable is the German softcore adult film series Schulmädchen-Report. They will still have to release a few films to match this one in terms of number of installments, but it is surely possible. The ninth film is getting shot this autumn and will probably come out next summer then.
The one thing the films have in common is that the title always consists of a dish, always from Southern Germany and a second word that means something like mayhem. And it is always an alliteration and it is also almost impossible to translate into English I'd say somehow. Guglhupf (I am surprised about the spelling as I thought there would be an e in there somewhere) is an especially delicious cake by the way and I am glad to see they found something without meat this time. Not for movie number nine though, but we will talk about this next year. These cakes are featured on three occasions or so in here and one of these occasions is when they are basically destroyed by massive automatic gunfire towards the end. This is also where the title applies I assume. What a waste though. But it fit in nicely with the movie because just like all the ones before that, it is a big mix of comedy and crime with some relationship stories. For example the female protagonist (the actress is even first credit here) is not happy at all that her man kinda neglects her and also does not take care too much of their small child, so we see them at a therapist's on one occasion, but this is also not further elaborated on and just in it for brief comic relief, also if you look at the identity of the therapist. We have many characters in here who have appeared in previous films too and of course this also includes a few I am not too big on to be honest. However, Flötzinger, who is a bit of a cult character, but I don't really like him, was okay this time, but the biggest disappointment was maybe Eberhofer's father. He had no material at all throughout the film, so they just included a random fatherhood story for him in the end. That was not good. By the way, I just wrote Eberhofer and this is of course the main character's name and this is why the films are also called Eberhoferkrimis here and everybody knows what people mean when they say that. In the previous film, the main character's dog died at an old age and it was a bit heartbreaking, but they brought in a new canine this time, a three-legged hound, and early on Eberhofer is not happy about this at all, but in the end warms up to it. By the way, judging from the names, the dog's gender in the film is not the same as in reality. It's a cutie though.
As for the crime story, Eberhofer ends up going against a few of his own this time as we have a gang of really trigger-happy cops here and they are after a young man from Niederkaltenkirchen. This is the fictitious town where the films are set. There is some talk about organized crime, but it ends up being police officers that did the damage and one of them is even friends with Eberhofer or they were at the police academy and then they kinda lost contact. However, here they get in touch and it is a bit ironic because Eberhofer and his people are supposed to protect Lotto Otto at the funeral and don't get distracted, but he never would have thought that the one who shows up there to distract him was actually the main culprit. Neither did I, but I kinda thought that this other police officer could be Otto's actual father. This is also a key story here. Eberhofer thinks he could be a dad and not just of his little boy. Then there is the lottery story in here and this is where Flötzinger comes into play because he got a winning ticket for his birthday before they knew it was the winning ticket obviously. However, it was not registered, so no wealth for Flötzinger and also not for anybody else. I felt a bit bad for Eberhofer's brother here because he was right all along, but got it from everybody, no matter if we are talking the statement from the insurer very early on or also when Eberhofer makes this gesture that his brother is crazy and a few more moments. Schwarz's character is featured here to, but not as memorable as he has been in other films. The romance story for him and a pretty big woman did not entertain me too much. His jealousy story oh well not a huge winner either, but tolerable and some okay closure in the end with the two friends there and how they stick together and it's not about Rudi getting the praise, but Eberhofer doing without his and staying where he really belongs.
The gunfight sequence towards the end was truly spectacular, had a lot of western to it for sure, also with the music. Okay, the solution then with Eberhofer's suicidal brother showing up out of nowhere and dealing with the bad guys was a bit ridiculous how he took them out, but oh well. The scene with Eberhofer's girlfriend or wife (not sure) doing the exact same thing briefly afterwards was also not among the film's best moments. It was almost more interesting how she reacted when somebody right before that said something about Eberhofer being a poor cop or so. Very brief inclusion, but listen and watch closely and you will pick it up. All about honor. This is one of the Eberhofer films that does not go through a bunch of suspects step by step until we find out who is really responsible, but it is rather about the situation unfolding and the nature of the crimes also rules out almost everybody right away. The main antagonist was also so mad at the end apparently that he forgot about everything and knew he would get caught maybe that he just fired blindly at the place that included the target person and several others. Of course kinda funny how Eberhofer says said target is not there, but in another town and then we (and the bad guy) see him in the window there. The scene with the bullet through the window at the start was really cool. I was still wondering why they did not take cover there immediately because more shots could have been fired. This scene also included one of my favorite comedic moments when they talk about one character not being the brightest bulb out there. This is just the very charming and politically incorrect comedy that many other films are scared of here in Germany sadly. The comment later on, also from the trailer, how one woman is so adorable when she does not talk was also funny. However, Otto's mother is killed in this film and what the scientist there said about her was almost too much and not funny anymore. A bit too much for the sake of it, but other than that, the film once again hit all the right comedic notes. Still, the irony that this man fills in as a relationship therapist afterwards. Admittedly, he was not too horrible there with what he was saying.
Finally, I would say that this is not my favorite from the Eberhofer franchise, maybe among the weaker movies, but not because it is bad or anything, but because the other ones are just really good. As much as I like this series though, I once again must make a reference to the unbearable Constantin Film as well as ARD Degeto and I wish these two weren't a part of these productions. But oh well, this does not make their actions in other fields less despicable. The interviewer at my event even came from Constantin Film. Just like they say that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. In Germany, we say it with chicken. That's pretty much it then. I laughed quite a bit with this film and that is how it should be. Mission accomplished. The movie ran for 1.5 hours as they always do and if you missed it this time in the theater, you will find many future occasions to see it on the small screen. At least if you are here from Germany. It is definitely worth it. German comedy really sucks these days, but these films are the closest to creative and daring comedic entertainment we have here in Germany. Very regional films too. In Bavaria, everybody knows them, further north not so much. Falk who was wondering if we Berliners understand her dialect has created something great here. Together with Herzog, Bezzel and the rest of the gang. I applaud them for it and there was never any doubt I would give this film a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. Go see it.
The one thing the films have in common is that the title always consists of a dish, always from Southern Germany and a second word that means something like mayhem. And it is always an alliteration and it is also almost impossible to translate into English I'd say somehow. Guglhupf (I am surprised about the spelling as I thought there would be an e in there somewhere) is an especially delicious cake by the way and I am glad to see they found something without meat this time. Not for movie number nine though, but we will talk about this next year. These cakes are featured on three occasions or so in here and one of these occasions is when they are basically destroyed by massive automatic gunfire towards the end. This is also where the title applies I assume. What a waste though. But it fit in nicely with the movie because just like all the ones before that, it is a big mix of comedy and crime with some relationship stories. For example the female protagonist (the actress is even first credit here) is not happy at all that her man kinda neglects her and also does not take care too much of their small child, so we see them at a therapist's on one occasion, but this is also not further elaborated on and just in it for brief comic relief, also if you look at the identity of the therapist. We have many characters in here who have appeared in previous films too and of course this also includes a few I am not too big on to be honest. However, Flötzinger, who is a bit of a cult character, but I don't really like him, was okay this time, but the biggest disappointment was maybe Eberhofer's father. He had no material at all throughout the film, so they just included a random fatherhood story for him in the end. That was not good. By the way, I just wrote Eberhofer and this is of course the main character's name and this is why the films are also called Eberhoferkrimis here and everybody knows what people mean when they say that. In the previous film, the main character's dog died at an old age and it was a bit heartbreaking, but they brought in a new canine this time, a three-legged hound, and early on Eberhofer is not happy about this at all, but in the end warms up to it. By the way, judging from the names, the dog's gender in the film is not the same as in reality. It's a cutie though.
As for the crime story, Eberhofer ends up going against a few of his own this time as we have a gang of really trigger-happy cops here and they are after a young man from Niederkaltenkirchen. This is the fictitious town where the films are set. There is some talk about organized crime, but it ends up being police officers that did the damage and one of them is even friends with Eberhofer or they were at the police academy and then they kinda lost contact. However, here they get in touch and it is a bit ironic because Eberhofer and his people are supposed to protect Lotto Otto at the funeral and don't get distracted, but he never would have thought that the one who shows up there to distract him was actually the main culprit. Neither did I, but I kinda thought that this other police officer could be Otto's actual father. This is also a key story here. Eberhofer thinks he could be a dad and not just of his little boy. Then there is the lottery story in here and this is where Flötzinger comes into play because he got a winning ticket for his birthday before they knew it was the winning ticket obviously. However, it was not registered, so no wealth for Flötzinger and also not for anybody else. I felt a bit bad for Eberhofer's brother here because he was right all along, but got it from everybody, no matter if we are talking the statement from the insurer very early on or also when Eberhofer makes this gesture that his brother is crazy and a few more moments. Schwarz's character is featured here to, but not as memorable as he has been in other films. The romance story for him and a pretty big woman did not entertain me too much. His jealousy story oh well not a huge winner either, but tolerable and some okay closure in the end with the two friends there and how they stick together and it's not about Rudi getting the praise, but Eberhofer doing without his and staying where he really belongs.
The gunfight sequence towards the end was truly spectacular, had a lot of western to it for sure, also with the music. Okay, the solution then with Eberhofer's suicidal brother showing up out of nowhere and dealing with the bad guys was a bit ridiculous how he took them out, but oh well. The scene with Eberhofer's girlfriend or wife (not sure) doing the exact same thing briefly afterwards was also not among the film's best moments. It was almost more interesting how she reacted when somebody right before that said something about Eberhofer being a poor cop or so. Very brief inclusion, but listen and watch closely and you will pick it up. All about honor. This is one of the Eberhofer films that does not go through a bunch of suspects step by step until we find out who is really responsible, but it is rather about the situation unfolding and the nature of the crimes also rules out almost everybody right away. The main antagonist was also so mad at the end apparently that he forgot about everything and knew he would get caught maybe that he just fired blindly at the place that included the target person and several others. Of course kinda funny how Eberhofer says said target is not there, but in another town and then we (and the bad guy) see him in the window there. The scene with the bullet through the window at the start was really cool. I was still wondering why they did not take cover there immediately because more shots could have been fired. This scene also included one of my favorite comedic moments when they talk about one character not being the brightest bulb out there. This is just the very charming and politically incorrect comedy that many other films are scared of here in Germany sadly. The comment later on, also from the trailer, how one woman is so adorable when she does not talk was also funny. However, Otto's mother is killed in this film and what the scientist there said about her was almost too much and not funny anymore. A bit too much for the sake of it, but other than that, the film once again hit all the right comedic notes. Still, the irony that this man fills in as a relationship therapist afterwards. Admittedly, he was not too horrible there with what he was saying.
Finally, I would say that this is not my favorite from the Eberhofer franchise, maybe among the weaker movies, but not because it is bad or anything, but because the other ones are just really good. As much as I like this series though, I once again must make a reference to the unbearable Constantin Film as well as ARD Degeto and I wish these two weren't a part of these productions. But oh well, this does not make their actions in other fields less despicable. The interviewer at my event even came from Constantin Film. Just like they say that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. In Germany, we say it with chicken. That's pretty much it then. I laughed quite a bit with this film and that is how it should be. Mission accomplished. The movie ran for 1.5 hours as they always do and if you missed it this time in the theater, you will find many future occasions to see it on the small screen. At least if you are here from Germany. It is definitely worth it. German comedy really sucks these days, but these films are the closest to creative and daring comedic entertainment we have here in Germany. Very regional films too. In Bavaria, everybody knows them, further north not so much. Falk who was wondering if we Berliners understand her dialect has created something great here. Together with Herzog, Bezzel and the rest of the gang. I applaud them for it and there was never any doubt I would give this film a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. Go see it.
