GERMANY: Humourous, New-age Films Make Directors Laugh to the Bank

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Francesca Buglioni

BERLIN, Mar 19 1996 (IPS) - Take a simple story. Add lights, camera, action, lots of ironic humour, and big name personalities, and you have the main ingredients which have suddenly enlivened German cinema.

‘Das Superweib’ (Superwoman), the most recent smash hit, was seen by 310,000 people one week into its release. Adapted from Hera Lind’s no 1 bestseller, the movie uses well known German personalities and actors such as popular black TV hostess Arabella, and top German sex symbol Til Schweiger, to weave a classic feel-good comedy of errors.

In a nutshell, it is the story of a disaffected young housewife, mother of two, Franziska Herr-Gross (pun on Mrs Big Man), played by Veronica Ferres. She decides to dump her husband, a big-shot TV director, filing for divorce after years of marital neglect.

Her lawyer falls for her. He asks her to write down the details of her married life. These fall into the hands of his savvy mother (Liselotte Pulver) who proceeds to send them to a publisher. The publishers rave about the discovery of such fresh new literary talent. They publish the book under a pseudonym. Unknown to the author, they also sell the film rights — to Franziska’s ex- husband.

Having to cope with the realisation that his wife is far more than a pretty face, the ex-husband now has to contend with her wishes and criticism and accept her vetoes as he sets about making the film. In the end, Franziska, with a new hairstyle, new boyfriend and a new contract for her next novel comes up trumps all the way.

For young director Sonke Wortmann the film follows the outstanding succes of his 1994 gay comedy ‘Der Bewegte Mann’ which was seen by 6.5 million people — a record-breaking achievemnet for a German film, almost beating ‘Forrest Gump’.

Wortmann, 36, is Germany’s most talented comedy director. On this current entrprise, he has joined forces with the most popular novelist, Hera Lind, and top producer, Bernd Eichinger.

‘Das Superweib’ is the latest in a series of comedy movies which have brought strong winds of change to the German movie landscape.

Wortmann represents is rated alongside actor/director Deflev Buck, maker of this year’s ‘Maenner Pension’ (Men’s Flophouse). With his 1994 groundbreaking succes he is the acknowledged superstar of what is being referred to as the ‘new generation’ of German film makers, who are making the nation laugh.

He has a knack for ironic. Biting but likable portrayals of the day-to-day relationships are combined with light hearted but politically correct approach. His greatest quality is that he never tries to be smarter than his characters. And no-one is quite as silly as they appear in the movies.