Filmofil.ba sa ponosom predstavlja kritike mladih autora nastale u okviru ovogodišnjeg programa Talents Sarajevo na 22. Sarajevo Film Festivalu

Piše: Andreea Mihalcea Prevod sa engleskog: Bojana Pušara

Svako ima svoj vlastiti način borbe sa egzistencijskom monotonijom i usamljenošću. Dopadljivi holivudski klasici iz tridesetih godina prošlog vijeka prikazuju ekscentrične likove koji se oslobađaju iz vlastitih životnih situacija i takve filmove prati smijeh i puno srce publike. Oni to nisu radili samo da bi pobjegli od stvarnosti, iako se tako moglo učiniti na početku, pa su mogli i da uživaju u životu punim plućima. Njemačka režiserka i scenaristica Maren Ade definitivno dobro poznaje ovakav senzibilitet, jer je veoma dovitljivo razradila ideju prikazanu u filmu sa terapeutskim dejstvom. To je Toni Erdmann, ovogodišnja kanska senzacija, ali se mora pomenuti i prethodno ostvarenje Everyone Else (2009). Osnovne strategije ponašanja ekscentrika u njenim rukama dobijaju univerzalne ljudske proporcije.

Predivni gubitnik Winifried (Peter Simonischek) pokušava da svojoj vidno nesretnoj i otuđenoj kćerki Ines (Sandra Hüller) ponovo vrati osmijeh na lice. Zato od njega stiže jedinstven rođendanski poklon  - duhoviti  "Toni Erdmann" alter-ego. Njegove unaprijed promišljene i neadekvatne socijalne vještine trebalo bi da kao čarobni štapićem izazovu nestanak arogantnih pojava u njenom okruženju. Kako smo već naučili iz ovakvih filmova, smiješne situacije glavnih likova uvijek se kose sa konzervativnim vrijednostima. Potrebno je dvoje za ples, pa tako i Ines preuzima bitnu ulogu da bi plan njenog oca uspio. Rijetki su trenuci kada se oboje nađu na istom putu i našale se zajedno, a upravo to i predstavlja ključ rješenja ovog neobičnog načina za rješavanje problema.

Winifriedov iznenadni posjet Budimpešti, gdje Ines trenutno radi kao glavni konsultant, biće okidač za dug i prelijep slijed apsurdnih gegova. Ovaj scenario, koji miješa elemente drame i komedije pretvara svaki trenutak proveden sa kostimiranim ocem u niz pukotina u životu koji Ines živi isključivo prema rasporedu. Analiza njenog karaktera počiva na korišćenju lika i postupaka kao sredstava kojima se dovodi u pitanje opšte prihvaćeni socijalni standard koji izaziva poštovanje i ne ostavlja prostora za lično ispunjenje. Način na koji se Maren Ade neustrašivo poigrava sa narativnim klišeima i činjenica da dva glavna lika izuzetno ubjedljivo postavljaju sve slojeve svojih ličnosti čine ovaj film popularnim arthouse djelom sa kojim se lako saživjeti.

Rediteljica zna kako da koristi stereotipe da bi otkrila duboka ljudska pitanja. Ovo nažalost nije uvijek na strani rediteljice i to u tenucima indirektnog tumačenja društvenog spektra. Zato nažalost ne mogu da ne primijetim da ako se Rumunija posmatra iz perspektvie stranca osvrti na neka društvena pitanja postaju egzotična i poprimaju formu skeča. Glavni fokus radnje je na ljudskim odnosima i preosjetljiv je, pa čak i neprikladan, za tumačenje političke konotacije.

Sto šezdeset dvije minute ove “truckave” filmske vožnje imaju tendenciju ponavljanja elemanata, što se odnosi na dio “između redova”. Sa druge strane, intenzivni ljudski odnosi prikazani u ovom filmu izazivaju kod mene osjećaj da ovoj njemačkoj režiserki treba aplaudirati za svaki minut ovog filma, koji je izuzetna tragikomična tour de force.

Fillmofil.ba proudly represents the works of young critics done in program Talents Sarajevo of 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival

Toni Erdmann: The screwballs and everyone else

Written by: Andreea Mihalcea Translation: Bojana Pušara

Everyone has their own way of dealing with existential tedium and loneliness. The all-so-likeable classical Hollywood 30’s screwball characters’ way of freeing themselves from all that was by laughing at it full-heartedly and by playing pretense. They weren’t doing it so as to escape reality, as it might look on the surface, but so they could actually enjoy life at its fullest. German director/scriptwriter Maren Ade certainly seems no stranger to that specific sensibility, considering how wittily she’s working around the idea of therapeutic roleplaying in this year’s Cannes sensation, Toni Erdmann, but also in her previous feature, Everyone Else (2009), for that matter. What’s more, fundamental screwball strategies reach, in her hands, universal humanist proportions.

Bottom-line, beautiful loser Winifried (Peter Simonischek) is trying to make his visibly unhappy and estranged daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller) smile again. So, he comes up with a one of a kind birthday present – the facetious "Toni Erdmann" alter-ego. His deliberately tawdry and inadequate social skills are supposed to magically make all the dead-on-the-inside arrogant smucks surrounding her disappear. But, as screwball comedies have taught us, although the goofball of the duo is constantly challenging conservative values, it still takes two to tango. Ines, too, has to play the game for her father’s plan to work. What’s at stake here is attaining and prolonging those rare moments when they find themselves in tune, both willing to tell the joke, as it were, and clown around as accomplices, that may or may not be the key for this rather belated bridging of the gap.

Winifried’s surprise visit to Bucharest, where Ines is currently working as a management consultant, triggers a long yet delightful series of absurd gags. Ade’s script, blending comedy and drama, turns each minute spent together by this alienated father-daughter duo into an opportunity for unraveling cascading cracks in Ines’ clockwork-planned life. Her character study relies on using caricature and farce tropes as a means of questioning to what extent abiding generally considered respectable social standard risks jeopardizing personal fulfillment. The way Maren Ade is fearlessly tackling narrative clichés and the fact that the two main actors are doing such a convincing job in rendering multiple character layers make Toni Erdmann an easily relatable and popular arthouse movie.

Although the director really knows how to juggle stereotypes in order to uncover deeper human issues, this is not always working in her favor, when it comes to indirectly commenting on a broader social spectrum. This is why, unfortunately, I can’t help but feel that, in regard to portraying Romanian society through a foreigner’s perspective, some of the social observation details are, at times, sketchy and borderline exotic. However, the powerful overall farcical coté of the film and her main focus on personal interaction counterbalance this, perhaps, too sensitive or even inappropriate of a political reading.

The 162 minutes long running time of this "bumpy ride" has at times a repetitious tendency, in terms of subtext discourse, and this might divide its reception. But on the other hand, intense relationships also tend to be like this and I personally feel that this German director deserves to be applauded for each minute of this film, an outstanding tragicomical tour de force.