By Markus Tschiedert
This week the level of cinema offerings couldn’t be more different. Felt-looking cartoon characters populate the screen in “Trolls – Strong Together”. In “Deep Fear” the fear of sharks is once again stirred up and Christoph Maria Herbst hosts a wedding in the comedy “A Festival for Life”.
The highlight, however, is the epic “The Killers of the Flower Moon” by veteran Martin Scorsese, which is based on true events. If you love cinema, you can’t miss this film.
“The Killers of the Flower Moon” – The ugly face of the palefaces
“You listen to me”: William Hale (Robert De Niro, left) takes his nephew Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) to task Photo: Paramount
THE STORY: The Osage people discovered oil on their territory in Oklahoma 100 years ago. Suddenly the Native Americans are filthy rich. But the devious cattle baron William Hale (Robert De Niro) plans to take their fortune. He urges his nephew Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) to marry the young Osage woman Mollie (Lily Gladstone). Hale gradually has her relatives murdered so that she can inherit everything. But Mollie can no longer be sure of her life either.
THE STARS: Leonardo DiCaprio won his Oscar for “The Revenant,” Robert De Niro has two, for “The Godfather II” and “Raging Bull.” Martin Scorsese helped De Niro achieve his breakthrough with “Taxi Driver”. The two have worked together nine times so far, and DiCaprio has now made six films with Scorsese. DiCaprio and De Niro first appeared in front of the camera together 30 years ago for “This Boy’s Life.”
THE DIRECTOR: For the first time, Martin Scorsese put his two favorite actors in front of the camera together. He only received the directing Oscar in 2007 for “Departed” with DiCaprio in a leading role.
BG RATING: Scorsese has created a real screen epic beyond science fiction and superheroes. A true story about ugly white Americans who thought they were the master race. A story that is shocking, extremely exciting as a criminal case and absolutely had to be told. But that requires a big screen and, at three and a half hours, a bit of seating (206 minutes, free for ages 12 and up).
“A celebration for life” – disasters on the wedding day
Wedding planner Dieter (Christoph Maria Herbst) faces a tricky task Photo: Gordon Muehle
THE STORY: Dieter (Christoph Maria Herbst) organizes large wedding celebrations. His last meal is coming up, after which he wants to quit the job. However, this time everything goes wrong. The roast is spoiled, the DJ (Marc Hosemann) is crazy and the groom (Ulrich Brandhoff) is running amok. Then the power is gone too. Now nothing works anymore.
THE STARS: A prime role for Christoph Maria Herbst, who can play stubborn bosses (“Stromberg”) just as well as decadent professors (“Contra”). Here he masterfully leads an ensemble, including Jörg Schüttauf (“Stasi Comedy”) as a voracious photographer and Cynthia Micas (“Take Me Home”) as a nagging organizer.
THE DIRECTOR: So far, Richard Huber has worked almost exclusively for television, directing several “Tatort” episodes and the TV film “The King of Cologne”. With this comedy he dared to remake the French cinema hit “Life is a celebration” (2017).
BG RATING: The original was a hit in France, but was less successful in Germany. The plot offers everything to make an audience laugh with a number of twists and embarrassments. This works here, perhaps because the actors are much more familiar to us (101 min., free from 0).
“Deep Fear – Dive for your life” – Between sharks and greed
Fear of sharks? Cinema poster for “Deep Fear” Photo: Busch Media Group
THE STORY: The sailor Naomi (Mādālina Ghenea) goes off course after a storm and saves two shipwrecked people. But they turn out to be unscrupulous gangsters. They force Naomi to retrieve the cocaine from a shipwreck. However, there are sharks lurking in the depths with a lust for human flesh.
THE STARS: Former photo model Mādālina Ghenea has already acted alongside Michael Caine (“Eternal Youth”) and Ben Stiller (“Zoolander 2”). In “House of Gucci” she played the young Sophia Loren. Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”) plays her boyfriend who is looking for her.
THE DIRECTOR: Previously, Marcus Adams mainly made music videos, but also lived out his desire for horror with “Long Time Dead”.
BG RATING: Shark horror is always possible, but these days you have to offer more with computer effects than in “Jaws”. Despite efforts, no one can come close to the 1975 classic. “Deep Fear” is also nothing more than a solid and therefore predictable thriller. At least you come to the realization that humans are the worse monsters (104 min., free for ages 16 and up).
The special film: “Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert”
THE STORY: In 1958, the writers Ingeborg Bachmann (Vicky Krieps) and Max Frisch (Ronald Zehrfeld) met in Paris. It’s love at first sight. Hate soon joins in. In order to forget Frisch, Ingeborg Bachmann goes into the desert.
THE STARS: Vicky Krieps comes from Luxembourg but lives in Berlin. She appears in both German (“Nebenan”) and international films (“The Silk Thread”). Ronald Zehrfeld was born in Berlin and impressed, among others, in “The State against Fritz Bauer” and “The Silent Classroom”.
THE DIRECTOR: Margarethe von Trotta has been writing and directing films since the 1970s. In addition to “The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum” and “The Second Awakening of Christa Klages,” she also portrayed famous women such as “Rosa Luxemburg” and “Hannah Arendt.”
BG RATING: The period of the 1960s is portrayed as quite barren and desolate. The actors also act a little strained, which creates a distance from the audience. A leaden film that just passes you by (111 min., free from 0).
Cinema for kids: “Trolls – Strong together”
THE STORY: For a long time, Poppy and Branch were just friends. Now they are lovers. Then Branch’s brother shows up. Together they look for three more brothers because they were once a boy group. However, Brother Floyd was kidnapped. Two pop stars turn out to be villains who drain Floyd’s musical talent.
THE STARS: In the German version, Lena Meyer-Landrut again speaks Poppy and Mark Forster Branch. The two pop stars are a couple themselves. In the original, the two cartoon characters are vocally refined by Justin Timberlake (“The Social Network”) and Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect”).
THE DIRECTORS: Walt Dohrn has already realized the first parts “Trolls” (2016) and “Trolls World Tour” (2020). For the third part he brought in Tim Heitz as co-director, who was previously part of the art department at DreamWorks.
BG RATING: Once again the colorful trolls are sent on a journey where they offer poppy catchy tunes to sing along to. Once again you get the feeling that some story has been crafted around the songs, and the arbor is already there. Not particularly original, especially since the figures, with their felty appearance, hardly have any structure. Nothing more than a hysterical pop show (91 min., free from 0).