Head Full of Honey (2014) User Reviews

Sentimental Study of the Effects of Alzheimer's Disease

[l_rawjalaurence · 6/10 · 29 June 2016]

I am surprised that so many other reviewers have taken exception to HÖNIG IM KOPF. The visual style of director/ star Til Schweiger takes a bit of getting used to (with fast intercuts between the characters, analogous to a pop video), but the action remains firmly protagonist-focused, especially on the relationship between Alzheimer's victim Amandus (Dieter Hallervorden) and his granddaughter Tilda (Emma Schweiger). The two of them remain close through thick and thin, even when Amandus appears to be losing his mind for good.

The subject-matter is difficult to dramatize, as anyone who has experienced the trauma of coping with an Alzheimer's victim will testify. Amandus means well, but it's clear that he cannot cope on his own; he has lost his sense of direction, and has little or no connection to the outside world. Neither Tilda's father Niko (Til Schweiger) nor her mother Sarah (Jeanette Hain) can really understand the nature of Amandus's condition, and hence it's hardly surprising that Sarah should frequently lose her temper on seeing the carnage that her father-in-law has caused.

The story takes a sentimental twist in the second half as Tilda and Amandus embark on an ambitious journey to Venice, where Amandus enjoyed his happiest days. Some of the plot-lines are highly implausible, especially in the way others treat Amandus, despite his medical condition. But perhaps that doesn't matter; we rejoice in the fact that the old man has a renewed purpose in life, which restores at least some of his connection to the outside world.

Shot throughout in bright colors, with a particular focus on the glorious landscapes of Austria, Germany, and Venice, HÖNIG IM KOPF has a feel-good ending in which Tilda's parents come to understand the true purpose of their lives, while Tilda (who also narrates the tale) realizes that her bond with Amandus will survive, even after his passing.

Disappointing, beautifully filmed movie

[jcravens42 · 6/10 · 27 December 2017]

A beautifully filmed but ultimately disappointing film. The first hour, watching an utterly clueless couple in complete denial about the mental state of the husband's father isn't funny - it's painful and disturbing. The saving grace is that this is probably how so many people really do try to deal with a loved one with dementia. Apparently no one in the family knows how to look up more information on the Internet about dementia and caregiving. No idea whatsoever as to why the husband stays with the wife, who is completely unsympathetic. The grand-daughter and grandfather are charming - but that no one intervenes when, say, they see this young child removing this old man's pants on a train is just unbelievable. The film is worth watching to explain to someone what dementia can look like, but it is NOT a good film for explaining how to care for someone with such (except to say "Here's what NOT to do.").

Basically what you would expect

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 7 March 2015]

"Honig im Kopf" is the newest film written by, directed by ans'd starring German actor Til Schweiger. (Also one of his daughters plays a central character once again.) Just like in his films "Keinohrhasen" and "Zweiohrküken", the title is a metaphorical reference to a quote in the film. The main reason I watched this movie was Dieter Hallervorden. His "Sein letztes Rennen" (probably also why he was cast for this role here) is one of my favorite performances and films from last year and when I heard he will play a character here who suffers from dementia (aging gracefully just like in "Sein letztes Rennen"), I expected great things. I was not disappointed. Hallervorden is the heart and soul of the movie, but sadly there are some parts which keep me from describing this as a great viewing experience. One would be the many many scenes of vulgar humor which really hurt the emotional impact this film could have made. Maybe teenagers would find this funny, but I surely did not. It really hurts the dramatic plot if they randomly start talking about nuns doing nasty things with cucumbers. Then there's all kinds of obscene swearing only included for the sake of it and with no real purpose and some nude-related humor like the naked ass of an old man. The only thing of that kind was the peeing-into-the-fridge scene. I laughed about that a bit because it was so random.

Anyway, looking past that, the movie had some moments of greatness. All of these featured Hallervorden of course and these were his scenes with Schweiger's daughter, for example when he gives her the note or when he finally does not recognize her anymore. The final scene with the girl lying in the grass and the sheep noise was good closure too. What i did not like, but what is common with Schweiger's works is that even the very tiny roles are all cast with very known faces, at least here in Germany. That's not really necessary and they could have given the minor parts to lesser known actors instead of casting Sarnau, Kurtulus, Reinhardt, Liefers, Prückner or Thalbach.

It's a bit of a road movie as all characters in the film have to find their way somehow, emotionally, but also geographically. One of these 4 central characters is played by Schweiger himself and he was, once again, totally forgettable. The storyline with him and his wife was very forgettable and added almost nothing to the movie for me and they could have left out a lot of it in my opinion, so the film would not have run for much considerably longer than 2 hours. "The "I love you" moment which was supposed to be his emotional highlight really fell flat for me too and seemed to have come completely out of nowhere. His wife was played by Jeanette Hain. Admittedly she gives a better performance and also plays a more interesting character. I never knew where she was going. Her behavior early on made me think she will be a bit of an antagonist and finally leave Schweiger's character for good, but she did not. I even thought at one point Schweiger's character would actually get together with the woman working at the home for the elderly. Anyway, I felt her change from spiteful (including a hug based on schadenfreude) to caring daughter-in-law was not entirely credible. It was just too much of a transformation.

It is occasionally a cheesy film, but Hallervorden made it watchable. I found the way all the characters acted with so much compassion to Hallervorden's and Emma Schweiger's characters cringeworthy at times. And even if the film seemed vulgar only for the sake of being hip and trendy at times, I would recommend watching it. But you will have probably seen some of Schweiger's earlier work if you consider watching this and should make up your mind based on that if you want to see this one. There's nothing really new here that you have not seen in his previous works already I guess. His co-writer here worked on the "Traumhotel" movies which certainly did not help the matter. "Honig im Kopf" is not a bad film by any means, but should have been kept a bit more essential and less stereotypical. The music in this film could also be described like the movie itself: good, but not outstanding by any means.

Hallervorden saves the day ... though he might not remember it

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 14 December 2015]

That's his character might not remember it. Dieter (or Didi as he's known in Germany) Hallervorden is a talented actor and he pulls off this role, which is a touch one to pull off. Is it unrealistic and does the movie draw too many cheap jokes? Yes it does, but with Hallervorden in the middle of it, acting his way out, even when you think it's impossible to salvage anything from what is happening, you can forgive such things.

The girl (daughter of Schweiger) is better in this, than she was in previous roles she got through her father. That doesn't mean she evolved into an actress yet, but let's give her the benefit of doubt and maybe she'll manage (some would argue, that it won't be hard to overshadow any "acting talent" her father has, but that's a different story). If you don't mind how over the top this is and how silly most of it is, it actually kind of works (which surprised me a little bit)

Excellent balance between comedy and drama

[IndustriousAngel · 9/10 · 14 January 2015]

Making a movie about Alzheimer's disease and how it affects families - that's difficult stuff, and if you want to include comedy aspects, your task doesn't get easier. The result - "Honig im Kopf" - is really better than it has any right to be, given those difficulties - it's touching, funny and perfectly paced. Opinions about Til Schweiger's acting ability might be divided; his talent as director and narrator can not be doubted after this project.

The biggest part of the story centers on 11-year old Tilda and her granddad Amandus who is slowly drifting into dementia; while Tilda knows (by asking her paediatrician, her parents being of little use) that the disease will be getting more serious and that he will eventually die, she tries her best to make him feel loved and needed during his last months. This goes so far that she "kidnaps" him and his plastic money for a travel from Hamburg to Venice (where he had spent his honeymoon with his deceased wife and which he still remembers vividly).

The first half of the story tells about the difficulties in integrating Amadus into domestic life at his son's, of the following near-breaking of the family - then it becomes a kind of road movie when crafty Tilda and Amandus hit the train (and have to leave it during a spell of confusion). Both halves share comedy and drama in equal measure - there's quite a few scenes where the whole theater exploded with laughter or snorting - , but it's the road movie that's more endearing: The help the dissimilar pair gets from unexpected sides, the intimate moments between grand-daughter and granddad, and in background: Tilda's parents going through some relationship changes as a consequence of her actions.

In the end, there's death. I thought it important not to cut away too early, death was waiting in the off since the second scene and was inevitable. Still, I was near bawling during those final scenes, that's hard stuff - "Honig im Kopf" is NOT a children's film even if the main protagonist is a 11-year old.

The acting was good - Hallervorden as Amandus excellent (though not as versatile as in last year's "Sein letztes Rennen" - more the fault of the script where he is given few bright moments) and Emma Schweiger very good, too - during the first minutes, her voice-over sounded a bit precocious but she really drew me in afterwards. All other roles were played at least competently.

The only "weak" parts in an otherwise excellent production: Camera-work and light were a bit pedestrian, and the soundtrack, while not bad, left me wanting for something less bland. But those are minor points, highly recommended!

A long good bye to senses

[Ralfscheapthrill · 2/10 · 6 April 2015]

Thanks to the reviews of AccessCardRequired and feyza-balak for pointing out some of the astonishing weaknesses of "Honig im Kopf". In addition to that: The problem of the editing is not just about the film's length in general and the louche number of "subplots" (which are more or less excuse for showing the audience proudly the desire of almost every known actor and celebrity in Germany to be a part in a new Til Schweiger movie at least for a second. It seems to be the latest fashion...). Though the story itself urges for intimate scenes where the actors have space to show their talent in favor of their role and the scene, it's high-speed edited in a unnecessary way I've barely seen before. Even the most simple dialog between three people there's hardly one image that stands longer than two seconds. It seems like no one is trusting the impact of the story here. Why else should you cut a quite relaxed dialog like it's an action movie's final car chase? "Honig im Kopf" is a perfect example for what happened to a part of Germany's filmmaking in consequence of 30 years of (bad) commercial TV: it's not about telling a story anymore, true to it's idea, it's characters. It's just about creating a chain of small plot points which have to peak in something that is supposed to be "highly emotional" oder "just funny". The rest is eye-pleasing: interior design out of the cheesiest life style magazines, spectacular shooting locations and of course: super expensive super-slow-mo-camera from time to time just to watch parents and child reunion like they show football-players these days, celebrating themselves after they managed to score. The sad thing is - no one of the teams seems to see or care, though they all did their job far better before (like in "Kokowääh", the first one. the sequel was hell) . And of course: If there'd be anybody out there who could tell Til what kind of path he's walking down, he could easily say: "What do you want? Almost 7 Million Germans went to see my movie, they cried and laughed. So get lost, stupid artsy fartsy guy!" So after all: Is it just a matter of taste? No it isn't. It's a matter of success, that's eating itself. What comes out of that still might look like success, and 30 years of fly-breeding might give you the impression that it's still a success, but if you just take your time - little more than 2 seconds, and check your senses you will realize the smell. Til doesn't seem to have nor time nor interest - no wonder, he's shooting film after film. Even his character here is like that: After Tilda burnt half of the super high class kitchen, he comes home and instead of taking a breath and wondering about the likely smell, his wife has to explain where all this soot is coming from. In it's mixture of lowest level storytelling, high level emotionalizing and inhibited jokes which mostly refer to farting and flippancy - here you have the wiedergänger of the infamous regular UFA-entertainment from once upon a time...

Absolutely brilliant, stunning, impressive!

[missmarmite · 10/10 · 10 January 2015]

Go and see this film, next week, tomorrow, right now!

No matter how old you are or of what gender or what you think about both Til Schweiger or Dieter Hallervorden. Go and see this film. It's worth it. It will touch you, even if you're a tough guy. It will amaze you. It will make you silently cry into your tissue. Silently, because you don't want to miss out on the next joke. Yes, this film is drama and comedy and character study and at the same time not shy to do fart jokes. It's the best by and with Til Schweiger I've seen and I certainly don't fancy him. But he knows so well what he is doing and in this film he placed himself rather in the background.

Because the foreground is taken by Dieter Hallervorden, known for silly silly silly comedies in the 70s and 80s and delivering here a performance which is prizeworthy. And by Emma Schweiger, who is not only an actor's cute daughter dragged in front of the camera to make daddy happy, but she can act and very well so and carries with her eleven years one half of the film on her shoulders.

Go and see this film. And you, distributors out there in the world, make sure people around the world CAN actually see this film and bring it to lots and lots and lots of cinemas. Everywhere. North, south, east, west. Please. I never give ten out of ten, but this time there was no other choice. I couldn't give eleven out of ten.

See. This. Film!

The beautified story of a traumatized child and a non-emancipated mom

[feyza-balak · 5/10 · 17 February 2015]

I would like to talk about two characters and the way their attitude is being dangerously idealized in the movie:

First of all, Tilda, the small child almost takes over the responsibility of her parents, taking her grandfather to a trip abroad. She witnesses how her grandpa slowly loses the capability of leading his own life and this is simply not something that a child can handle psychologically. For a child to carry such parental responsibilities is being referred to as a severe trauma in psychology and it shouldn't be idealized in a movie. Moreover, when she takes off with her grandpa, interestingly no one ever wonders where she may be and what may happen to them. So instead of being deeply worried for her, Niko and Sarah brush up their sex life. Really?!

Secondly, Sarah, Niko's wife is portrayed as a very unpleasant character and in the movie, this is tied to the fact that she doesn't want her husband's father to live with them. At the end, where the character transforms into an ideal (!) woman, she quits her job to look after Amandus and to spend more time with her daughter. This is nothing but a gender stereotype being reinforced in a very emotionally abusive manner. Again, such experiences have caused and are causing many women in the world to have traumatic experiences when it comes to having a family and wanting to realize themselves.

I was very disappointed to see so many gender stereotypes being reinforced in the movie. The people of this world have endured enough traumas and they should not be idealized in any way, let alone in a movie by Til Schweiger that is guaranteed to reach millions of people.

Best Movie of Schweiger Dream Team

[NielsMarquardt · 10/10 · 21 February 2015]

Everyone have to see this wonderful movie. I was in cinemas 4times for this movie and can't get enough from it. It is a wonderful story and so many people fall in love with this movie and try now to understand there parents or grandparents better, even if they had this illness. The absolutely best movie of Til Schweiger and especially from his wonderful young daughter Emma who will be a great worldwide actress soon, she is 12 years old and played so wonderful :) And the best role is the role from the grandparent Amandus, brilliant play from Dieter Hallervorden. I love all of this movie - you really have to see it !!! I hope that this movie get a lot of prices soon, the German crowd fall in love with it :)

u have got to be kidding

[selena-71096 · 1/10 · 1 December 2015]

I totally agree with Meta Pomieske and other reviewers who gave this movie one star. I lasted 20 min, may be,just could not take it any longer. First of all nothing is realistic in this movie and it is on the edge of being an absurdous one. The girl was seriously overacting in my opinion,her father a talented actor, was underacting, they made an idiot of the senile grandpa. Everything looked and sounded faked and forced. The movie starts with an underage girl traveling by train with a senile old man hugging a soft toy and it is presented as nothing is wrong with it. Then she allegedly overlooks his absence. Give me a break.

Beautiful and touching

[jensgaethje · 9/10 · 8 January 2023]

What might look overdone at times to me. Is a beautiful depiction of what. It feels like to care for an aging family member.

Maybe for some people this movie seems overdone or is not easy to relate to, but I was spending lots and lots of time as a young man with my grandma when her memory and worldly abilities started to fade, and this movie hits home.

It's not trying to be educational first or change the world but rather display an aspect of life that we almost all go through in one way or another in a touching and entertaining way.

I enjoyed the choice of actors as well as the visual intensity, which made the movie more "real" for me, as supposed to just looking realistic.

Honig im Kopf

[soniamarqueskiderle · 8/10 · 5 January 2016]

This film is really recommendable, and I think that this subject of senile dementia and is very difficult to show and there are only a few films on this subject. The mix of sadness and good moments is really good and makes this film very refreshing and worth to watch.

There are some things that I didn't like of this film, but I'm being very critical, because I think that without this few "mistakes" that I think that they have done, the film would be excellent. (There are maybe a bit spoilers)

-The character of the wife, mother and the daughter in law is excessive in all the situations and too untrue.

-There are very few times were the grandparent gets angry, aggressive..., and if a person suffers senile dementia I have heard that it's usual to become like this when you don't understand whats happening to you etc.

-The daughter in law of the grandpa quits for being with him. Why? First I thought that this was male chauvinist and absurd. Why must the woman quite the job and not the man who is his son? And in my opinion the best that would be to show the usual situation, and not a situation where a rich family can afford to resign a job. I think the normal situation is that no one quites his job and I don't know, the grandparent goes to a residence or receives help from a professional...

But I repeat, this film is worth to watch.

Head full of sh.t

[herostratus-690-719695 · 1/10 · 19 August 2016]

Sorry for the good rating - ONE - still far too good for this extremely crappy movie.

I quite used to like Till Schweiger for his appearances in older films, but I really started to dislike this guy for his appearances on TV recently regarding different political issues - and I really start to "hate" him for this movie - since he not only wrote the script but also had to (compulsively?) use his own kids to do the movie! Well, this kiddy-girl who plays the lead is really such a bad actress that it might have saved the movie if she would not have got the role by her father. Family business sucks, especially if one is some sort of frickin' dilettante, as in the case of this sorry girly! And how often her stupid-strange-expression-face-head pops up on screen - it really made me wanna puke after a while. Also technically this movie is a mess.

Hallervorden, on the contrary and as always, plays quite well - but of course he ain't got no clue at all how to play an Alzheimer-candidate - even if he looks like one (but he does so since ages)! Instead this whole crappy movie turns out to be some sort of would-be-funny-comedy - but having Alzheimer is not funny at all, I tell ya. I've seen someone who watched this movie who has got this disease, and watching it made him wanna kill the makers of this film, as he told me afterwards. It is no sign of decency nor is it a sign of intelligence to make a movie in ways that make people wanna destroy you!

I have to deal with Alzheimer patients each day at work, and this movie is really NOT AT ALL helpful regarding this disease: neither does it display the REAL Alzheimer as it is, nor does it deal with this overall issue adequately! Instead it seems to take the Mickey out of the subject and mock at both these patients and their relatives! Nobody ever would act or react as these stupid folks in this stupid movie do - neither the Alzheimer-candidate nor the Alzheimer-relatives! So is this funny? Not at all. Alzheimer means real horror. So is this helpful (in dealing with that disease)? Not at all. It just shows some stupid clowns walking around like brainless ants in a totally senseless plot.

The fact, that this whole stupid crap even won some award really makes all this even worse: cause it doesn't mean that this movie has got at least some hidden qualities, but it rather does show in what sorry state we live in. These idiotic awards this moron-movie won is just the proof of the sensational shortcomings of our so-called "culture" and our completely insane Zeitgeist, that obviously sipped into the minds of the makers of this movie and as well into the minds of the jury that made this movie have awards, on top of everything, and nothing more.

Luckily my TV has got an off-button. So I turned the frickin' sh-t off after 40 minutes, cause I couldn't stand it anymore. 140 Minutes of mere garbage? Unbearable! Is there some super-extra-money if a movie-maker crosses the 120-minute-line? I just wonder how sick a brain must be to write some stuff like this! But Schweiger outed himself on various occasions as warmonger and at the same time "fascist anti-fascist" (yes, such people do exist indeed today!) and also as an as violent as antidemocratic refugee-lover. So what can one really expect from such a distorted mind full of sh.t like Schweiger's?

so schlecht... typischer Schweiger-Film

[mark_usw · 1/10 · 14 November 2018]

Eine Aneinanderreihung vermeintlich schöner Bilder und gestelzter Dialoge. Einfach nur flach...

Til Schweiger doesnt learn

[Alex_Lo · 4/10 · 21 June 2022]

"Honig im Kopf" was a great success in Germany. Just another proof that the golden years of German film have been over since the early 1930s. A half-heartedly sentimental take on the difficult subject of dementia. The sets look like something out of an IKEA catalog, the young leading actress (and daughter of the producer and director) is talentless, the music is manipulative, the story is overconstructed. The only bright spot is Dieter Hallervorden. Schweiger is known for his conservative mainstream cinema, wanting his audience to leave the auditorium feeling good, forgoing more mature discussion.

Not strong enough

[Ehrgeiz · 5/10 · 1 January 2016]

The best about this German movie who was one of the biggest hits in 2014 are some of the performances. I always thought Hallervorden to be a good actor even in his often unfunny 70ies and 80ies comedies. Jeanette Hain is also good as the antagonist. Schweiger himself has made worse and better movies in the past. In the last years he became notorious for putting his friends and kids in his movies. Same here, but his daughter Emma is at least not as annoying as her elder sister Luna who also gets shoehorned in many of his movies. First off, the movie about a little girl and her grandfather, who has got Alzheimer disease, is just a bit too long. I think this movie could easily be 30 minutes shorter. In my opinion the movie shows quite good what Alzheimer does despite it is not in all details realistic. But Schweiger again ruins the portrayal of his main character by his crude style of humour. Here, for example, the main character Armandus is fond of grabbing tits or pees in the fridge. So you get wrongly the impression this may have not been a good man before he became demented.