Directed by:
Daniel BrühlScreenplay:
Daniel KehlmannCinematography:
Jens HarantCast:
Daniel Brühl, Peter Kurth, Rike Eckermann, Aenne Schwarz, Gode Benedix, Vicky Krieps, Justine Hirschfeld, Steffen Scheumann, Mex Schlüpfer, Arne Duppler (more)Plots(1)
Daniel (a self-deprecating Brühl) leads an enviable life. A famous actor, he lives in a stylish penthouse apartment in Berlin’s hip Prenzlauer Berg district with his wife and children. One morning, as he prepares to jet off to London to screen-test for a ‘top-secret’ new American superhero blockbuster, he pops into the local dive bar to kill some time. There, he meets middle-aged Bruno (a deliciously sardonic Peter Kurth), initially dismissing him as a(nother) fan. But far from it, Bruno’s in fact Daniel’s neighbour, and has been awaiting this moment. Bruno sees himself as one of reunification’s losers and a victim of the gentrification of what was once East Berlin and - as the pair banter, and he begins nitpicking the increasingly exasperated (and now late for his flight) Daniel’s career - he gradually reveals a far more intimate knowledge of Daniel’s life than is comfortable... Written for the screen by best-selling German author Daniel Kehlmann, Brühl’s two-hander combines verbal sparring with schadenfreude for a wryly entertaining comedy of wits and secrets that will have you wondering just how much you know about your own neighbours. (Palace Films)
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Reviews (3)
A brilliantly escalated psycho conversational drama. I really appreciate the gradual unveiling and escalation of the seriousness of the conversation between these two neighbors, it makes you wait a long time to see what will come out of it. And even though it's not very comedic in the end, I had a lot of fun when Bruno somehow always felt the need to criticize Daniel's works (putting down his acting performances, but also the scripts themselves) and how Daniel tried so hard to pretend that he wasn't affected at all and that he didn't care about the opinion of some ordinary viewer. And how he kept trying to leave, but kept coming back because he needed to know more; in that respect I found it hilariously funny, otherwise it was rather creepy. The direction and the acting are great. Daniel Brühl clearly has talent.
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Now that's what they a bad day or, more precisely, a shitty day. I don't know how else to describe in a nutshell what successful actor Daniel experiences when, in the morning, all excited about a big role and goes to a local bar where he meets an elderly man named Bruno, who turns out to be Daniel’s neighbor, and is very taken with him. After that, an excellent conversation starts, which is clever and has balls, is somewhat unreadable, full of sudden twists and turns, and therefore also great fun. The resulting positive impression given by this movie is underscored by very convincing performances by Daniel Brühl and Peter Kurth. (85%)
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This "pub western" pitting a western star against an earthy eastern dude has potentially many layers (the relationship between West and East, gentrification, superficial glamour, loneliness), but Brühl, as director and protagonist, chooses the path of likable caricature. It's nice to look at, but it doesn't leave much of a mark on you, and Peter Kurth wins overwhelmingly in this shootout with his much more believable and nuanced acting. Ironically, the main star gets off too cheaply.
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