Die Einsamkeit der Krokodile

I have seen this film at its first presentation in the "Filmwelt" cinema in Detmold, Northrhine-Westphalia in Germany. The reason for that was that parts of the film (the scenes in and outside the little pub) were filmed not even 100 metres away from my door. Really exciting to see your little village in cinema! Unfortunately it is not a blockbuster but it has many aspects and qualities that other German Productions like "Sonnenallee" do not have. It tells us everything like it is and it do not fear the "truth".

So in my opinion it is a really great contribute to the German film history.

A little town in the province of Northrhine-westphalia. Elias (Janek Rieke), a young journalist, wants to write a story about the mysterious death of Günther (Thomas Schmauser). He was a highly gifted, intelligent boy - but an outsider. Soon Elias notices that everyone in town is against him - even Günther´s parents. Heike (Julia Jäger) the owner of the little hotel where he Elias lives, Roland a mental handicapped boy, who works on a farm, and Günther´s grandma are the only people he can trust. Was it murder? Was it suicide?

How could Günther´s life fail? Director Jobst Oetzmann decided to tell the story in flashbacks. You see Günther growing up in his parents butcher shop, which was also the center of the story. Everybody in town thought he was crazy, but he wasn´t. It was the outer circumstances that were mad - especially the way his parents treated him. He was a shy rebel with a cause.

It was in 1996 when I watched "Nach fünf im Urwald" - Franka Potente´s debut, where Thomas Schmauser played at her side. It was the first time that I took notice of him. Nice to see him again! He gave an overwhelming performance! It´s long time time ago that a german movie went so deep - maybe with the exception of "Das Experiment", but that was a completely different film. "Die Einsamkeit der Krokodile" is a truly touching tragic-comedy about life in the province.

One absolute giant!

This film involves you from the beginning and you stay with it until the end. It is, after all, a mystery and we wish to find out what happened. The script is rather intelligent and it is peopled with believable characters for the most part. It is a black comedy and we have a portrait of a small town with universally recognized characteristics.

Our hero with ambitions to be a reporter goes to visit the town where his cousin died in order to find out what happened. He meets great resistance from the small minded members of this small minded town and thus the drama ensues. You immediately identify with the problems and bumbling nature of our reporter hero and you can feel sympathy for his many difficulties. However, the real hero of the film is Gunther who has died. In flash backs we witness his life before its untimely end and we can understand what happened by the end of this film. He is a long-suffering individual who is very different from everyone else in the village.

I have a few problems regarding believability of some of the character development but I can not go into detail because it could reveal too much of the film. This is a somewhat kinky film in the true traditions of black comedy and I feel most people will respect this film.

Being from Germany, I know only very few good recent German films, and so I thought, I'd give this one a chance. I had read a few good words about it, in a TV-magazine. (generally not a good source for trustworthy movie recommendations) As some minutes passed, I was confronted with clichés, clichés, and clichés. At first I thought, it might be some kind of satire... I just could not believe, in the existence of such a unimaginative (non blockbuster) movie! I was wrong though. This movie doesn't play with clichés as for example Pulp Fiction does, it simply quotes them. The whole "pigs are like people"-thing, the ultimately boring lovestory, the fat black extroverted American woman, the parents, who won't let go of their son, the bullying schoolmates ... and so on. I have noticed though, some people enjoyed this movie. It appeals to their emotions, it is political correct, and it is very much paedagogic, which is UNFORTUNATELY symptomatic for German films.