Der Vorname

German "How About Adolf?" (original title: "Der Vorname", 2018) is the latest remake (in my count))) of the Italian "An Italian Name" (original title: "Il nome del figlio", 2015) which in turn is the remake of the French "What's in a Name?" (original title: "Le prénom", 2012), but I think the German is better (more mature)) than other two. Well done!

The first temptation is to define it as provocative. For situations, humor, dialogue, clash between characters and adorable end. But it is more. It is a realistic - precise portrait of contemporary family. Eccentric ideas, secrets far to be comfortable, couple huge problems, wives and husbands - and a mother in not ordinary situation- , love and hate in large portions. A nice comedy for its smart levels.

Really enjoyed it. It has a brilliant menu of fun for a perfect movienight you won't forget!!

The premise for the film is the conflict that naming your child "Adolf" could cause in your family. That alone would not be enough to sustain a full feature film, and indeed this is only a starting point.

A whole host of family secrets are unraveled in the process, how they think about one another, what they have done in the past and present. It is like throwing a burning match into the store of a gunpowder fabric and making damn sure it stays alight. The result pushes their relations in way one might otherwise see in a Luis Bunuel film, just staying one step short of surrealism.

There are small hints here and there that this is French (rather than German) in its origin, and it may have been better (with a German cast) to adapt these subtle cultural differences to place this in a pure German setting.

Anyway, this is very entertaining for its witty dialogue. The after-the-party events that concluded the piece seemed unnecessary.

Witty, funny provoking - I absolutely loved this movie from the first to the last scene. I believe I've seen something similar in an Italian context, but the German version was so much better, more nuanced, more subtle and more to my taste. Although the entire movie takes place within a house and involves basically only five people, it never gets boring. The dialogue is very brisk and engaging, the acting is excellent. The topics the film raises, are interesting and are dealt in a clever and genuine manner - the choice of a child's name, the shadow Hitler still throws over German political and everyday life, the hypocrisy of feminist husbands and the difficult choices women make between career and child rearing, etc. All these difficult questions are examined without preaching, with tact, a sense of humor and empathy. Wholeheartedly recommend this movie and would be happy to find other German films of such quality.