Pappa ante Portas

What happens if your husband is early retired? That is the master question of Germany's famous actor, writer and director Vicco von Bülow's comedy. He understands very well to show the audience the small things of life, that can be funny as well. Although nothing important or extraordinary happens in this movie, it is interesting for every minute. You won't find simple jokes and gags (like in a Zucker movie) in this film, but you will be fascinated about the subtle sense of humor of Loriot. The only thing to criticise is the very poor quality of scenery and camerawork what seems to be an effect of the low budget of this film. But I would consider "Pappa ante portas" (a German-Latin play on words that means "Daddy in front of the door" and is an allusion to the Latin figure of speech "Hannibal ante portas") as one of the ten funniest German movies in the history of German comedies.

Pappa Ante Portas is a movie,you can watch over and over again and you´ll still love it.I´ve seen it about 10 times and I´m still rolling on the floor laughing.Loriot really has a wonderful way of humour and the movie is full of little details and intelligently made background gags. Apart from that,the acting is absolutely superb.Loriot and Evelyne Hamann really make the best(and the funniest) out of their characters! The best thing is,that the situations are very near to the real life and totally weird at the same time. This film is full of strange but wonderful humour and I recommend to everyone who wants to see some intelligent comedy. This movie is nothing for fans of no-brainer-flicks!

Pappa ante portas is witty, intelligent, very clever, very well made, nicely cast, mean, and - we all have to admit it - truer to life than we would like it to be. Loriots humor is based upon his own experience with the German Middle and Upper Classes, Loriot being a part of the Upper Class himself. True self-irony and reflective humor can only spring from knowing ones own faults. Formidable! Watch it! (I wonder if they could make an English synchro of it)

Something hopefully most of us have to face, is how to deal with life after work. But not only how we ourselves have to deal with it, but how others have to deal with us. Very dry humor ensues and situational comedy that most can relate to. While it may be outdated in some respects (newspapers, electronic devices missing and so forth), it still is more than an accurate depiction (read: heightened to an extent) of (pension) life.

Maybe your family life is different and you can't relate to everything shown here. But even so you will be able to understand what the characters go through. There is no wrong and right in general, although you may find yourself picking sides on certain issues. If the man does something, you might feel that he's right, if the woman does something contrary you may be on her side. Whatever you feel, you will feel the dread ... but even more so the comedy behind it all

Loriot(Vicco von Bülow) is possibly Germany's most wellknown comedian if we consider his comic books, his TV shows and his 2 films. His Prussian humor is unique and he prefers to be the pedantic gentleman who often struggles with tiny "errors" in his environment. "Pappa ante Portas" is the better of his 2 films where he plays a married man who disturbs his family because of his early retirement. Once again excellent his all time female companion Evelyn Hamann who plays his wife.

Overall rating: 9 (among the 5 best comedies of the 90s)