Showing posts with label Karoline Herfurth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karoline Herfurth. Show all posts

Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Perfume (5 Stars)


This is the latest film in the Best Of Cinema series. It's unique among the 24 films already shown or announced so far, as the only film that's less than 20 years old. Is that a mistake? Maybe it is, but it's a welcome mistake. It's a brilliant film, and it's already included in my top 100 film list. It's in 94th place at the moment, but I think it should be higher. I'll think it over next time I review my list.

Tonight I spoke with a few people in the cinema, and they'd all seen the film before. I've watched it four times since I started my blog, probably twice before. I wish I'd started my blog in 2003 when I first became a serious film fan. This is the first time I've seen it on the big screen.

One thing I didn't mention in my previous reviews is my shock at French executions in the 18th Century. Most countries used to hang criminals, and I thought that France used the guillotine, but not in this film. Is it historically accurate? The person is bound to a pillar and the executioner hits him with a hammer in eight places on his arms and legs, breaking his bones, after which he's left to die. Is it really necessary that the person should die in such pain, whatever he's done?

I expect to be writing less, if at all, for the next two weeks, because I'm going on holiday: one week in Borkum and one week in Karlsbad, on the northern tip of the Black Forest. I'll be looking after my grandchildren, so I doubt I'll have much time to write.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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Wednesday, 10 May 2023

The Pasta Detectives 2 (4 Stars)



This is a sequel to "The Pasta Detectives", made a year later in 2015. The original title is "Rico, Oskar und das Herzgebreche", engl. "Rico, Oskar and the Heartbreak". In my review of the first film I remarked that the English title doesn't make sense, because there's no pasta anywhere in the film. Now it's got one step closer to making sense. It's claimed that Rico's father is an Italian. Duh! I should have guessed, with a surname like Doretti!

The film is based on the second book in the best selling series about the schoolboys Rico and Oskar, written by Andreas Steinhöfel. It evidently takes place a few weeks after the first film. Oskar has spent some time with his father. Now he's coming to stay the night with Rico. Only one night is planned, but the following morning a suitcase with clothes is left outside Rico's apartment with a note, "Mrs. Doretti, I hope it's okay for Oskar to stay a few days longer. I need more time for myself". Oskar's father didn't even come in to tell Oskar himself. This is the first heartbreak. What sort of a father is he?


In the first film Oskar always wore a bicycle helmet. Now he doesn't, and he tells Oskar it's because he's incognito. I don't know who he's hiding from, but he's obviously suffering from paranoia. In addition, Oskar also wears dark sunglasses whenever he leaves Rico's house so that nobody will recognise him. That's a remarkable disguise.


One thing I didn't mention in my last review is that Rico's mother Tanja goes out to play Bingo several times a week. Ugh. My mother took me to Bingo clubs a few times when I was young, and I found it remarkably dull. Tanja is remarkably lucky, winning the top prizes. Can you see the way Oskar is looking at her? He can see that she's cheating. She's put her counters on the wrong numbers.


If you've ever played Bingo – poor you! – you know that the numbers are checked when you shout Bingo. The bingo caller, Mrs. Wandbek, checks Tanya's numbers and says they're correct. Oskar insists on investigating, and he discovers that Rico's mother is involved in a racket. Tanja wins expensive items, sells them on Ebay, then gives the money to Mrs. Wandbek. Oskar also finds out that Tanja isn't acting illegally by choice, she's being blackmailed. I shan't give any more spoilers, except to say that it involves spectacular car chases through Berlin and the surrounding countryside.


Karoline Herfurth looks too sweet and innocent to be a criminal!


The second heartbreak concerns the policeman Simon Westbühl, who recently moved into a fourth floor apartment in Dieffenbachstraße 93. Rico's already decided that he wants Simon as his new father, but he finds out that Simon has another woman living with him.


The twins Mele and Afra visit Rico. The one on the left, whichever her name is, says she wants to kiss Rico, but they laugh at him when he says Yes. What a tease! Is that yet another heartbreak?


They also flirt with Oskar. Isn't he too young for them?


Tanja is lost in thoughts. Does she think she still has a chance with Simon?


She falls asleep in front of her computer. That's something I've never done.

At the end of the film there's a surprise, which I'll mention here, because it might be important in the next film. Until now, Rico has believed that his father was dead. Now Tanja tells him he's still alive. She left him because he was hitting her.

That's a dilemma for a 10-year-old boy like Oskar. Can he still love his father under circumstances like these? It's possible for a man to be a good father, but a bad husband.

Sunday, 7 May 2023

The Pasta Detectives (4 Stars)



The original title of this German film is "Rico, Oskar und die Tiefferschatten", engl. "Rico, Oscar and the Deep Shadows". The title of the English release is very random, since there isn't any pasta in the film. At least there are detectives: Rico and Oskar.

The film is based on the first book in a series of books about the schoolboys Rico and Oskar. At least, I hope they're schoolboys. We never see them going to school. It's the summer holiday, I hope.

Rico Doretti is a 10-year-old boy who lives in a second floor apartment in Dieffenbachstraße 93 in Berlin. It's curious that the exact address is repeatedly named in the film, as if it's something important. It's a real house in Berlin. The area around his house can easily be recognised in Google Streetview. Most of the characters in the film live in the same house, which is six floors high. It's a typical Berlin apartment house.


That's the house. It's in the middle of Kreuzberg, an area in Berlin which has a bad reputation, but it's actually very attractive.


Rico lives with his mother Tanja, played by the stunningly beautiful actress Karoline Herfurth. She's struggling to make ends meet after the death of her husband in a fishing accident. She works all night in a nightclub, "Die Mausefalle" (engl. "The Mousetrap"). Rico has to put himself to bed, and his mother is still at work when he wakes up in the morning. Maybe that's why he doesn't go to school?


That's the club where Rico's mother works. Maybe not all of Kreuzberg looks so good.


And here's a close up of Tanja riding her bike home from work in the morning. In the film she complains about getting older and losing her looks, but come on! I'd run after her without hesitation, if I could keep up with her bike.


This is Rico's bedroom. Wow! I never had a room that big, even as an adult! He just needs some more furniture.


The twin sisters Mele and Afra live next door on the second floor. Rico is in love with them, but they make fun of him because they think he's stupid. How can he be in love with both of them at once? I've never known any twins, so I suppose it's difficult to choose.


A handsome young man called Simon moves into an apartment on the fourth floor. Later in the film we find out he's a policeman. He makes a round of the house, introducing himself to his new neighbours. Rico thinks he would be suitable as a new father, so he plays matchmaker, which embarrasses both Tanja and Simon.


Rico meets Oskar, an eight-year-old boy who lives somewhere close by. He refuses to give Rico his address. Oskar is highly intelligent, but he suffers from paranoia. He wears a helmet all the time, because he says Berlin is a dangerous place. Rico is jealous of Oskar because he has a father, but Oskar says his father doesn't love him.


That's the introduction. Now for the story. Berlin is living in terror. A man is kidnapping children and only giving them back if he's paid 2000 Euros. The press call him Mister 2000. Tanja warns Rico not to go out alone. Oskar does the opposite. He walks the streets, setting himself up to be captured. He wants his father to prove his love by paying 2000 Euros. Eventually Oskar is kidnapped, but his father won't pay. Rico goes to work, using his detective skills to find where Mister 2000 lives. He proves himself more skilful than the police.


This is a very good children's film. My grandson Oliver had no trouble relating to it, and he wants to see the sequels as soon as possible. In my opinion, the best children's films are the ones that adults can enjoy as well, and this is one of them.

Friday, 11 March 2022

Das Perfekte Geheimnis (4 Stars)


Seven people in a room. A lunar eclipse. Seven mobile phones.

The film's title means "The Perfect Secret". It's a remake of an Italian film called "Perfect Strangers" ("Perfetti Sconsciuti"). The German title is misleading. A perfect secret would be a secret that's never discovered. In this film everyone has secrets, and they're all exposed.


Eva and Rocco are a married couple who live in a luxurious apartment in the middle of Munich. She's a therapist, he's a plastic surgeon. They invite six friends (three couples) to dinner. Only five of them arrive. After talking about mobile phones controlling everyone's life today, Eva suggests a game. Therapists like games. Everyone has to lay his mobile phone on the table. Incoming calls have to be answered on speaker phone. Text messages and emails have to be read aloud.

The perfect friends soon realise that they're perfect strangers. Everyone has secrets that he's been keeping from his partner or his other friends. What starts out as a happy evening turns into arguments, and everyone leaves in tears.








We think of mobile phones as a means of communication that brings people together. This film shows that they tear us apart. It's not that the phones are bad in themselves. They're just tools to be used. The trouble with phones is that they offer methods for people to keep secrets. They bring out the worst in people.

Only one of the dinner guests, a teacher called Pepe, wants his secret to be exposed. He's a homosexual, but he's never had the courage to tell anybody. He's hoping that the game will help him come out of the closet. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as planned. Some of his friends that he's known since childhood are homophobic.

Something about this film has touched a nerve, The original version was released in 2016, but it's already been remade 20 times. The Guinness Book of Records includes it as the most remade film in cinema history.

  • Italy: Perfect Strangers (2016) – the original version
  • Greece: Perfect Strangers (2016)
  • Spain: Perfect Strangers (2017)
  • Turkey: Stranger in my Pocket (2018)
  • France: Nothing to hide (2018)
  • South Korea: Intimate Strangers (2018)
  • Hungary. Happy New Year (2018)
  • Mexico: Perfect Strangers (2018)
  • China: Kill Mobile (2018)
  • Russia: Loud Connection (2019)
  • Armenia: Unknown Subscriber (2019)
  • Poland: Strangers (2019)
  • Germany: The Perfect Secret (2019)
  • Vietnam: Blood Moon Party (2020)
  • Japan: Adult situation (2021)
  • Slovakia: Known Unknown (2021)
  • Romania: Perfect Strangers (2021)
  • Holland: Perfect Strangers (2021)
  • Israel: Perfect Strangers (2021)
  • Egypt: Perfect Strangers (2022)
  • Norway: Full Coverage (2022)
  • Iceland: Wild Game (2022)

Remakes are currently planned in Qatar, Sweden and (finally) America.

I've seen four versions of the film so far: the original and three remakes. They all have subtle differences, while keeping to the main lines of the original. The German remake deviates the most by adding a happy ending that was missing in the original. That weakens the story. It's a story about tragedy.

One small comment for my English speaking fans. The film has only been released in Germany, but the Blu-ray contains English subtitles.

Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Perfume (5 Stars)



For me every actor has a signature role. That's one role that defines him, and it's the role that people think of whenever his name is mentioned. If there's an actor who doesn't have a signature role, it's either because I don't know enough of his films or because he hasn't yet made the film with his signature role. To give a few examples:

Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature role is the Terminator.

Bela Lugosi's signature role is Dracula.

Tom Hanks' signature role is Forrest Gump.

Nicolas Cage's signature role is Seth in "City of Angels".

Bruno Ganz's signature role is Adolf Hitler.

Keanu Reeves' signature role is John Wick. This is an interesting one, because I used to think his signature role was Neo in the Matrix films, but I've changed my mind. John Wick expresses more accurately who he is.

Beverly Lynne's signature role is Tanya X.

And Ben Whishaw's signature role is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in "Perfume". I don't care how many times he plays Q in the James Bond films, he'll always be the brooding serial killer Jean-Baptiste.


I can't write about this film without mentioning Karoline Herfurth, the stunningly beautiful actress who plays the plum seller. It was intended to cast an English or American actress for the role, but after a long fruitless search Karoline was picked, a German actress who had already worked with the director Tom Tykwer.

The film has epic proportions, despite its seemingly banal plot: it's about one man's quest to create the perfect perfume. 5,200 extras were used in the film, and the final orgy scene holds the record for the largest orgy on film, with 750 extras taking part. According to the director's commentary, they had to rehearse a whole week eight hours a day in order to feel comfortable with being naked.


These are just a few of the participants. It wasn't an easy scene to film, because the extras were all packed together in a cramped space. Amusingly, Tom Tykwer says that after making the film a large number of the naked extras still meet on a regular basis to reminisce about the film. Rolling naked in a courtyard with 750 other people must be a unique bonding experience.


Karoline Herfurth also appears naked briefly, though not in the orgy scene. She was already dead, Jean-Baptiste's first victim.


So many naked bodies, and yet Alan Rickman has to keep his clothes on. I bet he wishes he could have been one of the extras.

This is a magnificent film. It doesn't neatly fit any genre. It's a masterpiece.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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Thursday, 11 February 2021

We are the night (5 Stars)



As I've said in all my previous posts about this film, it's the best vampire film ever. You might disagree, but it strikes a chord with me. In the vampire mythology of this film it's said that there are only 40 vampires in Europe, 200 worldwide, and all of them are women. The men have been wiped out because they were too loud and too stupid. Now a consensus has been reached that no more men should be turned. As a feminist who believes in the inherent superiority of women over men, I can easily accept this as a premise.

The vampiresses, of whom three live in Berlin, have adapted to the lack of male vampire companions in different ways. Louise has become a lesbian.


Charlotte has lost interest in any sort of sexual activity. The thrill of drinking blood is all she needs.


Nora still likes men, but for sex only. No emotional attachment. After having sex with a man she kills him. That's not a problem, because there are millions to choose from in Berlin alone. She could take and break a man every day for hundreds of years and never run out of willing partners.


Lena is recruited as the fourth vampiress in Berlin. Ultimately, it's her emotional attachment to men that brings her down. Louise offers Lena her love, but Lena isn't ready for a lesbian relationship. She can't live like Nora, because she still has an aversion to killing. She has feelings for a mortal man, a police detective, and she puts his safety above that of her fellow vampiresses. This is a weakness of some, though not all women. Emotions are good, but a woman shouldn't allow her emotions to take priority over her reasoning.

Does Lena eventually act against the consensus and make her lover a vampire? The question is left open at the end of the film. I suspect that she does, but it's up to the viewer to make up his own mind.

This is one of the few German films in recent years that was on general release in UK cinemas. It was still a failure at the box office. Nobody takes German films seriously. The people who haven't seen this film are missing out.

Success Rate:  - 6.6

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Wednesday, 13 January 2021

The Little Witch (5 Stars)


I'm feeling a bit sick today, so I'll keep this review to a minimum. As some of you might know, I've suffered from low blood pressure for the last 30 years. I mean chronic blood pressure. When I first had it I frequently blacked out in public. After a couple of years I could recognise a feeling when my blood pressure was dropping, so I knew when I had to sit down and rest. I've only occasionally been given medication, because the tablets to raise blood pressure all have side effects. In November my doctor considered my blood pressure was dangerously low, so I started taking Astonin for two months, which should have been up next week. At the weekend I had a bad headache and dizziness, but no low blood pressure feeling. I checked my blood pressure out of curiosity –  usually I only check my blood pressure when it feels low – and it was 177 / 125. I was shocked. It's never been that high before. I stopped the tablets immediately. The next morning it was 194 / 118. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. Let's see what she says.


Sometimes I think that modern medicine is a failure. After 30 years nobody has figured out a permanent fix for my blood pressure problems. I wish I had a beautiful witch like Karoline Herfurth to give me medicinal herbs hand-picked in the forest.


I'll try to write a bit more the next time I watch this wonderful film. Until then, check out what I wrote in my first review.

The film hasn't been released on disc in English, but I'm happy to say that it's available on Amazon Prime in America. God bless Amazon!

Saturday, 11 July 2020

Perfume (5 Stars)


Most people know Ben Whishaw for his role as Q in the recent James Bond films, but I can't look at him without remembering him as the cold killer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in "Perfume". It's a role he plays to perfection. Even though he's a serial killer, we can't help feeling for him and wishing him good fortune in his quest to find the perfect perfume. He's a charismatic psychopath who draws us in and charms us in with his faraway stare.

I can't think of any other film with a plot vaguely like this. Perfume as the motivation for a murder spree is a bizarre concept, but it seems so natural in the context of the film.

Maybe one of the reasons that we can so easily relate to Jean-Baptiste is the vicious brutality of 18th Century France. Torture is the answer to everything. If someone is suspected of a crime, torture him and he'll confess; just make sure you accurately describe what the crime is, or he'll confess to the wrong crime. If someone is sentenced to death, torture him first, just for the fun or it.

The last time I watched this film I claimed that we don't empathise with Jean-Baptiste. I don't know why I wrote that. It's obviously what I thought at the time. Maybe I needed to watch the film a few times for him to grow on me.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Das Perfekte Geheimnis (4 Stars)


The cinema was fairly full when I went to see "Das Perfekte Geheimnis" (engl. "The Perfect Secret") today. Based on the box office figures of the first week, it will probably the most successful German language film in 2019. It features some of the biggest German movie stars, and when I walked out I overheard people telling one another how much they'd enjoyed it.

But how many of the people in the audience knew what they were watching?

It's a remarkable film, unique in the history of cinema. There's never been a phenomenon like it. I'm using the word "film" in an extended sense, referring to the story and the series of remakes.

In 2016 an Italian film was made called "Perfetti Sconosciuti" (engl. "Perfect Strangers"). Seven friends meet for dinner. (Three couples, plus a single man whose girlfriend doesn't turn up). The host's wife suggests that they play a game. They lay their mobile phones on the table. All incoming calls have to be answered on speaker phone. All texts and emails have to be read aloud.

Something about this film attracted the imagination of audiences. Film studios jumped on the opportunity and bought the rights for their respective countries. Believe it or not, "Das Perfekte Geheimnis" is the ELEVENTH remake within three years. Another seven remakes are currently in production, and the Guinness Book of Records now lists it as the most remade film ever.

It's a topic that people in countries all over the world can relate to. Mobile phones are a global phenomenon. They bring people together and pull them apart at the same time. Couples don't share their phones, so each partner has the opportunity to lead a double life.

The only other version I've seen is "Perfectos Desconocidos" (engl. "Perfect Strangers"), made in Spain by the legendary director Alex de la Iglesia. Based on a plot synopsis I've read, he remains very close to the original film. The German version omits a few small details, and it adds an epilogue to give the story a happy end. The French vesion, "Le Jeu" (engl. "The Game"), is available in Netflix, so I'll probably watch it soon for comparison.

I enjoyed the film a lot, even though I always knew what would happen next. The actors are all first class, many of them reuniting after making "Fack Ju, Göthe" together. My only criticism is the epilogue. It was unnecessary. They should have stuck to the seven people in a room.

Thursday, 25 April 2019

A year ago in winter (4 Stars)


This is a slow-moving family drama with an intensity which might not be obvious on the first viewing. It's not a film to watch and forget. It's a film that you have to sit and talk about with your family and friends.

It's the story of a broken family and its struggles to continue living. In winter, shortly before Christmas, 18-year-old Alexander Richter killed himself. He walked into the forest with his father's gun and shot himself in the mouth. Nobody knew why. Everyone thought he was happy, and there was no suicide note to offer an explanation.

A year later the family is falling apart. Alexander's parents are in the process of splitting up. His sister Lilli, now 21, is having trouble continuing her studies as a performance artist because she drinks too much. His mother commissions a life-size painting of her two children together, as if Alexander were still alive. Lilli should be playing the piano while Alexander watches her.

The reclusive painter Max Hollander says he will need three months for the painting. He's given a collection of photos and video tapes of Alexander, but Lilli has to visit him to model. Lilli hates it. She finds it grotesque, but she does what her mother wants. It's more than just modelling. The painter talks to her, trying to find out more about the relationship between her and her brother. He needs to know how they should look at one another in the painting.


As the weeks go by, Lilli begins to process what happened with her brother. She realises how much he loved her. Max might be an artist, but he does a better job than any therapist. Lilli begins to enjoy talking to him, and they find they can help one another. Max is a homosexual struggling to accept his sexuality. With Lilli's help he can talk about it openly, although, ironically, he feels attracted to her the more time they spend together.


When the paining is finally complete, Lilli's mother hates it, but Lilli thinks it's perfect. That's to be expected. Lilli has guided Max with the painting every step of the way. Rather than showing the children together it emphasises their separation. That's the opposite of what the mother wanted. The mother wanted to live in the past, but Lilli can only move on if she accepts things the way they are now.


Suicide can wreck a family, but if a person reaches the point that he has to kill himself things are already broken. Maybe therapy can help someone change his mind about suicide, maybe not. The usual steps in therapy are to persuade the person that it's not as bad as he thinks, that he can become happy, etc. In some cases this might be true, in others it might be giving him a false illusion, promising things that are impossible. I wouldn't try to talk anyone out of suicide. I would just talk to him and help him to see whether it's what he really wants. It's an important decision that shouldn't be taken lightly. There should be no uncertainty. It shouldn't be a spontaneous decision based on something that happened yesterday. But more importantly, the person should explain his reasons. He should write a suicide note, preferably a long, detailed suicide note. He should write exactly what has led him to his decision. Usually after a suicide the friends and family blame themselves, but that should be avoided. If someone really is to blame for the suicide, the person should be named, so that everyone knows whose fault it is.

When I was 18 I attempted suicide. I think I did it the right way at the time, apart from the suicide not succeeding. I thought a packet of rat poison would be enough to kill me, but it just made me sick. I arranged it weeks in advance. I travelled by train to a place where nobody knew me. I mailed a postcard to my parents with a short explanation. I've forgotten what I wrote, but I know it was a lie. The real reason for my suicide was that I couldn't cope with my mother being drunk every night, but I didn't want to blame her. I made up some other excuse, so unimportant that I can no longer remember it.

Do I regret wanting to kill myself? You might think that the fact that I'm alive and writing about it years later is proof that I'm glad I survived. That's not true. I think it was the right decision at the time. Ending my life at 18 would have rounded things off. The aftermath of the failed suicide attempt was traumatic. Months in hospital and years of therapy! Nobody really understood me. The only thing that stopped me doing it again was the fear of failing. What I hated most was certain therapists – luckily not all of them – who called my suicide a "cry for help", as if I'd never intended it to succeed.

However, even if suicide was the right decision for me to make when I was 18, I've moved on. Now I want to live. I've seriously considered suicide twice since I was 18, and both times I came to the conclusion that it would be wrong. There are reasons for me to live. They're possibly selfish reasons, but they're still good reasons for me. But one thing is certain: if my circumstances ever change and I decide to die, I'll write a lengthy explanation of my reasons. I shan't make the same mistake as Alexander in the film. I'll write whatever I can to minimise the uncertainty of those who knew me.