"Erik & Erika" or "Erik. Weltmeisterin" or "Einer wie Erika" is a co-production between Austria and Germany that resulted in this German-language movie from 2018, so it is not really new, but also not particularly old or anything. It came out in March, so over .5 years old, probably way older when you read my review as you probably won't show up here in 2020 still unless you also saw the film tonight when it was on. This was a theatrical release by the way and the movie runs for minimally under 1.5 hours, which is basically the standard running time for small screen releases here in my country as well, so it may gind a slot here and there. There is also some okay awards recogition it seems, most of all for the lead actor, but no wins apparently. I will get to him a little later. If you take a look at the title, then you will see that they kept using the name in a playful manner that shows (s)he may not be 100% on gender although in the end that is what he actually is. And well, except the first title maybe, I don't find them too fitting either because this is never even remotely a comedy. The director is Austrian Reinhold Bilgeri and it is a bit of an unusual inclusion because you almost never see a director whose main profession is being a musician. As a consequence, he also has many "self" credits here on imdb, but it seems nonetheless that his filmography as the man in charge behind the camera is increasing as well. Maybe he wishes that he could have found this area earlier already and that he may have a certain talent there. The writer this time is German Dirk Kämper and his body of work is exactly what you would expect. He started making films in the late 20th century. Or I should say started working on screenplays and this is really his one and only area of expertise. This film here is probably among his more known and more successful career achievements because the awards recognition also came from fairly prestigious bodies. The lead actor here is Markus Freistätter and I cannot say I am familiar with him at all. He is alright though, even if I am not sure if he was the best casting choice for the protagonist here. This was really his breakthrough film, so yes he is still fairly young. He was not a rookie when he appeared in it, but all he had before that were minor television projects, a short film here and there and a "Tatort" episode. But since then he has been really prolific, so he is certainly looking for a future in the acting profession here and he definitely does not seem to be on a wrong path as far as one can be a judge of that right now. The rest of the cast, i.e. pretty much all supporting players, are (way) more experienced. Most of them are Austrian actors and I cannot say too much about them because I am simply not really familiar with the majority of those. But Hary Prinz is one you see fairly often and him I know. Same for August Schmölzer, who has been in some really big films even. Those two are Austrian. Marianne Sägebrecht is not, but she is one who is always easy to identify, even if on this film here, she did look somewhat different. Probably age getting to her, but initially I was not 100% sure if it was her. Her voice makes it pretty easy to identify her nonetheless. That one sounds as always. Anyway, she was alright here. Honestly, she has been in many really terrible films and in all of the she plays an elderly altruist, almost saint-like character and it is sometimes even unwatchable. Here she also plays a likable character, that is ust her niche, and it is fine. Admittedly, she does not have a lot of material here to be honest, so I am surprised to see her being second credit. However, if we take a closer look, there is nobody other than the lead who has great material to work with. Maybe one or two really meaningful supporting charcaters could have made this a better watch. Instead, they went for so many smaller characters and they all kinda make sense and the actors aren't bad either, but yeah well something's missing.
One key reason why people could watch this movie is because it is based on a real character, namely Erik Schinegger. He was born a male with his genitals on the inside and back then there was no great science or anything, so people thought for over 20 years that he was a woman. The fact that he could not simply go out there and say he was into women probably also made sure that there were no big doubts. Schinegger (best if I call him that to avoid complications with he/she) tuned into a professional skiing athlete and even became world champion. However, briefly before the man's first participation at the Olympics, doubts arose regarding his sexuality and until that point, he was still mistaken for a woman by everybody. There we have science play a role too and we find out about people talking about chromosomes and stuff. This is basically the first half hour only. His past as an athlete is one that is only really dealt with in the first third of the movie. Everything that follows afterwards is about his difficult path to acceptance. To being accepted by others, but also to accepting himself. Sägebrecht's character (a woman of the church) helps him on this rocky road and there are other people too. They may seem a bit rude with how determined they are when telling him that he is a man, but in the end it's a good thing, even if he suffers a lot to see himself like that. One sequence that helped is of course when he has sex, but yeah this felt a bit strange. I mean it was obviously meaningful, but let's keep in mind that as a male he was basically a virgin and he seemed like a pro, not careful at all. Or worried. Or insecure. Is this really realistic? Another scene that did not do too much for me was when we see him being basically part of a lecture and he is lying there as an exhibit or something and well, I did not like that really. I can't even say why in detail. When he sways up, it was meant as one of the most powerful moments, but it felt rather like the opposite for me honestly. This scene would have deserved a much better execution. Same applies to the struggles with his family and if he is good enough for his parents by being what he is. Of course, even if this is based on a real person I am sure a lot got added for dramatic purpose really. How much is probably something that only the writer knows. Maybe the director. Definitely Schinegger himself. I also liked the brief summary with the recordings including the real man and the words we see on the screen. How people thought that he also could have competed with the best as a male skiier. It may be true. Maybe not. We'll never know. But it was a bit funny how it says that he thought so too. So I may have been wrong by saying the film is completely free of comedy. It just took really long and sometimes real life is the funniest. We should definitely not see him as a victim or anything. At least not in the now. Still, with his gender background, even if he had won the Olympics, it probably never would have been as much of a success as him becoming a father indeed. So there is a happy ending. Real life is the happy ending. The ending they show us in this movie is a bit open, but I liked it nonetheless. This was one of the things done right here I would say. Sadly not enough things for a positive recommendation. It gets close here and there and maybe I will change my mind one day if I ever rewatch it. No intention to do so in the near future though. The good thing is there also was not really one moment when I considered calling this film a failure. Overall, I am a bit stuck between very cautious recommendation and the the though that you'd better skip this one. For now, I am going with the latter, but it is not a verdict set in stone by any means. Watch something else instead.
One key reason why people could watch this movie is because it is based on a real character, namely Erik Schinegger. He was born a male with his genitals on the inside and back then there was no great science or anything, so people thought for over 20 years that he was a woman. The fact that he could not simply go out there and say he was into women probably also made sure that there were no big doubts. Schinegger (best if I call him that to avoid complications with he/she) tuned into a professional skiing athlete and even became world champion. However, briefly before the man's first participation at the Olympics, doubts arose regarding his sexuality and until that point, he was still mistaken for a woman by everybody. There we have science play a role too and we find out about people talking about chromosomes and stuff. This is basically the first half hour only. His past as an athlete is one that is only really dealt with in the first third of the movie. Everything that follows afterwards is about his difficult path to acceptance. To being accepted by others, but also to accepting himself. Sägebrecht's character (a woman of the church) helps him on this rocky road and there are other people too. They may seem a bit rude with how determined they are when telling him that he is a man, but in the end it's a good thing, even if he suffers a lot to see himself like that. One sequence that helped is of course when he has sex, but yeah this felt a bit strange. I mean it was obviously meaningful, but let's keep in mind that as a male he was basically a virgin and he seemed like a pro, not careful at all. Or worried. Or insecure. Is this really realistic? Another scene that did not do too much for me was when we see him being basically part of a lecture and he is lying there as an exhibit or something and well, I did not like that really. I can't even say why in detail. When he sways up, it was meant as one of the most powerful moments, but it felt rather like the opposite for me honestly. This scene would have deserved a much better execution. Same applies to the struggles with his family and if he is good enough for his parents by being what he is. Of course, even if this is based on a real person I am sure a lot got added for dramatic purpose really. How much is probably something that only the writer knows. Maybe the director. Definitely Schinegger himself. I also liked the brief summary with the recordings including the real man and the words we see on the screen. How people thought that he also could have competed with the best as a male skiier. It may be true. Maybe not. We'll never know. But it was a bit funny how it says that he thought so too. So I may have been wrong by saying the film is completely free of comedy. It just took really long and sometimes real life is the funniest. We should definitely not see him as a victim or anything. At least not in the now. Still, with his gender background, even if he had won the Olympics, it probably never would have been as much of a success as him becoming a father indeed. So there is a happy ending. Real life is the happy ending. The ending they show us in this movie is a bit open, but I liked it nonetheless. This was one of the things done right here I would say. Sadly not enough things for a positive recommendation. It gets close here and there and maybe I will change my mind one day if I ever rewatch it. No intention to do so in the near future though. The good thing is there also was not really one moment when I considered calling this film a failure. Overall, I am a bit stuck between very cautious recommendation and the the though that you'd better skip this one. For now, I am going with the latter, but it is not a verdict set in stone by any means. Watch something else instead.
