QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN
Sixteen-year-old Lea (Frida Horneman) lives with her dispassionate father Matze (heartthrob Max Riemelt) in a large estate house belonging to her grandparents, somewhere near the small town of Greiz, in Thuringia (once a region of East Germany). Her helpless mother Rieke (Gina Henkel) is often around, still on and off in a sexual relationship with her father. She is pregnant by another man. Lea despises her mother, often spouting snide comments, or even insulting her. She doesn’t think very highly of her father, either. After all, he’s too busy enjoying his dalliances. Auntie Kati (Eva Löbau) is a successful museologist, but Lea finds her work uninspiring. In fact, the teen is deeply ashamed of her entire family, as she puts bluntly during a video call with a friend of her father.
Lea sings eloquently emo indie in English, much à la Adele. She often hums and chants her creations around the spacious house. One day, she features on a reality television show for aspiring singers. The programme is called X Auditions (in a clear reference to X Factor). The majority of the jury are impressed with her delivery. This is a big achievement for the adolescent, and a rare moment of unity and unbridled celebration for the large and broken family.
The German title of the film Etwas Ganz Besonderes means “something special”, in reference to a television interview and a family conversation in the beginning of the film. Each family member tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to say something remarkable and unique about them. In a way, this failure extend to the film as a whole. The characters of director and writer Eva Trobisch’s third movie are incredibly uninteresting. It is difficult to relate to any of them because their development is poor. Plus, the relationships are blurry. It is clear that that Lea’s parents don’t get on particularly well, however it is impossible to work out the psychology of Matze and Rieke, and why both have multiple lovers.
Most crucially, Home Stories lacks a significant conflict capable of sustaining the narrative arc of a film that nearly reaches the two-hour mark. Lea’s singing career virtually vanishes from the story only to resurface in a pointless epilogue at the very last minute. The helmer and scribe attempts to create a climax by inserting some insufferably romantic German music during a scene of an improbable embrace. The outcome is clunky. As a result, the viewing experience is extremely monotonous.
The film contains abundant commentary about the differences between the West (where Lea tours in order to sing) and the East (where she still lives with her family). Sadly, these are virtually impossible to grasp unless you are either German or at extremely familiar with German history. A fellow German critic explained to me that there are allusions to the collapsing textile industry and the abundance of modern museums in the former GDR region. These criticisms are just too esoteric for an international audience. The majority of non-Germans will neither like nor understand Home Stories. And I doubt Germans will appreciate it. Never before during a press screening have I seen so many people check the time on their mobile so often.
Home Stories just premiered in the Official Competition of the 76th Berlinale.
