Im weißen Rößl am Wolfgangssee

I have seen lots of Films and Operettas "im weißen Rößl" but this is my all-time favorite. Its a LIVE-Event in Berlin 1994, most Actors even in private life are good fellows, and this is the spirit of the whole Event. Great singers, great actors and a wonderful "spirit" of good old Austrian holidays in good old Austrian royal monarchy. Austrian humor versus German toughness, love and romantic, pathetic and sentimental journey, perfect compressed in the "Bar jeder Vernunft" tiny stage, live musicians and live audience, a masterpiece of European operetta/musical! Nothing from that "must be modern and extravagant", but rich of heart and soul, worth to bee seen and heard! "Wiener Schmäh" and "Wienerlied" written and composed by a Berlin Genius! I love it!

This is the best version of the operetta which has ever been seen on stage or on screen! Once you have seen it you will never be able to watch another version without being disappointed. All actors and singers are absolutely perfect in their roles - so perfect that we cannot tell which we like the most. This is first class entertainment for the whole family. Every minute is a delight. We have seen it a 100 times at least, know it by heart and still laugh at every moment. It is completely different from the naive version with Peter Alexander. It has irony and wit. Hopefully the Geschwister Pfister will direct other operettas!

After decades of seeing this funny Berlin Operetta from 1930 in embarrassing "Heimatfilm" version, it is good to finally have a production that shows the piece as the madcap play-with-music that is is, and that has nothing to do with sickeningly sweet nostalgia but all to do with hilarious fun. Later filmversions with Johannes Heesters (1952) and Peter Alexander (1960) totally ignored this aspect of the operetta,and turned into what all operettas looked like at the time (and most still do today): sentimental toss!

This filmed live-performance of a Berlin off-scene production at the trendy "Bar jeder Vernunft" gathered a handpicked group of cabaret actors (Geschwister Pfister, Meret Becker) and nostalgia singers (Max Raabe) plus some famous German actors (Otto Sander), to produce a small scale version, that is simply irresistible. It started a revival of operetta as an intelligent genre for intelligent people in Germany.

Sadly, there have been no other productions like this one at the "Bar jeder Vernunft" (though they had thought about Paul Linckes "Frau Luna" in 1999/2000). The Geschister Pfister, who direct and star, have since become National Treasures as a dancing and singing trio of ultra camp style... which can be said of this "Roessl"-version as well.

But that's what makes it so perfect and so much fun!