5 German films to watch (that arenât dark and gritty or Lola rennt)
(lit.: Honey in the head)
The story of a girl and her grandfather, who has Alzheimer. The film follows the whole family coming to terms and dealing with the illness. Starring Germanyâs Til Schweiger, whoâs otherwise known to make kind of silly rom-coms with weird titles that nobody really likes (at least I havenât met anyone yet). Bittersweet and sad at times, yes, but also doesnât paint the story in too dramatic colours and always keeps a bit of the light-hearted atmosphere through out the film. Everyone was going nuts when it came out though, guess it was kind of the surprise of Til Schweiger doing something that was actually good?? I donât know. Just watch the film, donât ponder too much about it.
2. Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimnis der blauen Eulen
(lit.: Bibi Blocksberg and the secret of the blue owls)
My childhood. Iâm not kidding. Bibi Blocksberg is a popular German childrenâs character - sheâs like, what, maybe 11 years old? Anyway, sheâs a witch and her mumâs one too, her fatherâs named Bernard, her mum, whoâs also a witch by the way, is named Barbara (because of ALLITERATION) and she has a broom called âmashed potatesâ. Thatâs kinda all you need to know to start. So I rewatched the trailer now, and I cringed a little bit at how 2004 it is, but itâs glorious. I donât remember much of the plot to be honest, just that Bibi is ⊠at a summer school and thereâs a labyrinth under the school, which is where the secret of the blue owls is hidden. Bibi and her friend Elea, whose parents died in a car accident when she was young and who now uses a wheelchair, are determined to find out more, but the evil witch Rabia (whom Bibi more or less successfully banned to the Devilâs Moor in the first movie) is back and already plotting for revenge. Is it a kidâs movie? Yes. Should you watch it anyway? YES.
3. Systemfehler - Wenn Inge Tanzt
(lit.: Systemfehler (name of the band) - When Inge Dances)
Dude. Iâve never watched this movie, but I heard itâs really fricking funny. A mix of Germanyâs adaption of Camp Rock, Rock It! (Iâve linked the trailer but that doesnât mean you should go watch it honestly donât do that to yourself) and the actually really funny Groupies bleiben nicht zum FrĂŒhstĂŒck (lit.: Groupies donât stay for breakfeast), that didnât make this list for the simple reason that â6 German films to watchâ would break the tradition of using either 3, 5 or 10 for these kind of posts. And who am I to anger the langblr ancestors?
Anyway ABOUT THE MOVIE. So Max is the singer of a small band called âSystemfehlerâ, which he founded with his friends. Recently theyâve landed a surprisingly big hit with a song making fun of their more eco-friendly activist classmate Inge, whichâŠthe name alone. Any German will understand. Itâs no Kevin, but ⊠just donât call your child Inge if you want it to make friends on the Pausenhof. The song, called âWenn Inge Tanztâ, blows up so much that manager Dan Biermann offers them to be the opening act of the band Madsen (theyâre moderately big Germany, trust me). But oh no! Their guitarrist Joscha breaks both of his hands! Just when it seems their dream of fame will only remain a dream, Inge offers to replace Joscha, under one conditionâŠthat they wonât play âWenn Inge Tanztâ at the concert. Genuinely funny! I havenât watched it but I definitely want to!!
4. Rubinrot  (English Trailer)/(German Trailer)
I think this is the only film here with an English dub (not going to comment on the quality here, or the fact that they all have American accents even though the film CLEARLY takes place in the ukâŠbeggars canât be choosers).
Itâs a fantasy film, based on the YA Novel by Kerstin Gier, which was an internation success and I think it even made it on the NY Times bestseller list (correct me if Iâm wrong).
Gwendolyn Shepherd never felt like she was anything special, because even though she lives in midst of her big family in a posh mansion in Mayfair, as far as she can remember all attention has been on her cousin Charlotte. You see, Charlotte is the Ruby, last in a line of 12 people (each with pretentiously assigned symbolic gemstones) that possess the gift of time-traveling, spanning through out history. All of Gwenâs family is part of the Lodge, an underground club made up of Englandâs upper ten thousand dedicaded to protecting the secret, who have been training and preparing Charlotte and her time-traveling partner aka Mysterious Arrogant Hottie aka Gideon De Villiers aka Kotzbrocken all their lifes. But in the days before Charlotteâs first time jump, Gwenâs stomach does some weird things and instead of the school cafeteria, she finds herself back in 1823.
What is she supposed to do? Tell the Lodge that their century-old calculations are wrong? Face the blistering wrath of her aunt and cousin? Learn how to dance the minuette? All that plus one thing: Under no, NO circumstances fall for handsome-but-devilishly-arrogant Gideon de Villiers. Which turns out to be harder than it seems.
This is 2011-youâs day dream, jokes aside. A posh mansion in London with a quirky family? Check. A secret society of time-travelers? Check. Doing adventerous stuff in a ball gown with an arrogant hottie that would drop everything for you in 0.2 seconds? CHECK.
(btw if youâre about to shit all over them bc youâre ~edgy and ~cooler than the rest of us, fricking FIGHT ME 12 year olds deserve all the cheesy time traveling heroine stabbing bad guys in ball gown fantasies they can get)
I WORSHIPPED these books and I wish the film had done them justice, because even though clearly written for 10-15 year olds, theyâre funny and full of original ideas and plot twists. Unfortunately, they fell victim to the Percy Jackson Phenomenon, where in comparison with the book the film is an abyss of badness, but sufficiently entertaining when viewed as a stand-alone. If youâre into fantasy and you had a long day in school/at work and just want to get some daily target language input without having to think too much about plot deepness, this exactly what youâre searching for.
(lit.: wellâŠkind of self-explanatory.Goethe is a very famous German poet, if you didnât know. Smart guy.)
(If youâre a beginner you maybe shouldnât start with this film. The characters talk very fast, use incorrect grammar, slang and all in all itâs not very easy to understand).
You knew it was coming. You knew it. @ German person that clicked on this list, curious, whispering to themselves âbut will she mention ⊠that film??â. Yes. Yes, I will. This list could not be complete without this film. My life and the lifes of thousands of other German students would not be complete without this film.
Okay, let me explain. You can argue with me all you want, but right here is a work of immensiously contemporary importance in the German society, arguably the peak of German cinema. Everyone has seen it at least twice. Kindergarten children repeat the punchlines one to another. Make the mistake to say the name âChantallâ out loud in a classroom full of 7th graders and youâll be greeted with a chorus of delighted âHEUL LEISERââs.
I could write a the whole plot out here and go into a deep analysis of how this film criticises the German education system and in particular its neglection of everyone who comes from a lower social class or the place and role of turkish immigrants in society and what problems they face, but. Imma be honest. That film is first and foremost fricking hilarious.
Itâs an ex-bank robber called Zeki MĂŒler who ends up as a substitute teacher on accident, assigned to now teach the âProblemklasseâ (usually the class with the worst reputation, made up of kids that donât study and find joy in disrupting class (in this case all clichĂ©es of the German lower classes) of the school. Throw in a bag of money thatâs buried under the gym, a doomed reenactment of Romeo and Juliet, a paintball gun and an overly correct teacher prone to hysterics that canât seem to mind her own business and you got yourself a movie that Germany wonât forget so quickly.
(the title is a pun - an intentional misspelling of F*ck You, Goethe since the name of the school where the film takes place is the Goethe Gesamtschule).
A colourful, goofy, exagerated portrayal of school in Germany. All teachers show it in the last class before summer holidays. Iconic. If you want to immidiately get on the good side of a German teen, drop a few references. Just- watch it.
So, I hoped you all liked this collection of films and I could help you out a bit. Who knows, I think I might make a post about popular German YA literature. You see, these are the things that help me enourmosly when learning a new language - pop cultur, wether it is recent or a bit older. Often it shows the spirit of a country and youâll always have something to talk about with native speakers!
