Horst_In_Translation Review of Elefantenherz

Elefantenherz (2002)

Good character study that falls a bit apart towards the end

[6/10 · 26 September 2017]

"Elefantenherz" or "Elephant Heart" or "Boxing" is a German 95-minute film from 2002 and this year is considered by many Daniel Brühl's best career year. This one we got here is certainly among his lesser known works, but he really is the center of it all, the heart and soul of the movie. The Spanish title I mentioned earlier also says what it is about, namely a young really talented boxer who may make the wrong decisions about who he sticks around with and crucial consequences on his career and life are inevitable. It is a really slow, really bleak and maybe also really depressing film as we see that the only fights the character wins easily are those in the boxing ring while his family is a gigantic mess, mostly because of his violent death and the protagonist's challenging task to control his physical strength to avoid further escalation. But is not avoidable near the end, even if he is the one who is to blame the least. I must say I pretty much enjoyed everything about the film including the tone and atmospheric take that may seem like a problem for many audience members. But while this one is not for the big masses and the number of ratings here on IMDb reflects that, it is a good watch if you manage to open yourself to the central character's life and story. Brühl has some film where he is overrated, but not in these 90 minutes here. Sadly the way in which they through everything overboard for a most spectacular ending (the mother's admission, the dad's reaction) did not appeal to me at all and I wished they could have kept the "quietly convincing" approach until the moment the credits roll in. The fact that they did not makes me get away from the idea that this is one of the best German films from 2002. But even without the superlative, it's still a fairly good achievement I believe and I give it a thumbs-up. Worth seeing especially for those who like/love Daniel Brühl. It's not too easy to get a hand on this underseen film these days with all the time passed, but if you do, then check it out and I'm positive you won't regret it.