This is "Bauernprinzessin III - In der Zwickmühle", a German television film from 2009, so this one is already over a decade old, comfortably over, but here and there it is still shown on television. Not too often though, but today was such an occasion. You can see from the title (the III) that this film is the third and final installment froom a trilogy of movies based on the "farmer princess" mentioned in the title. The first two films were on last weekend if I remember correctly and this third movie was shown today. The background story is that early in the first films the protagonist gets in charge of the place when the elderly man who runs it dies. And as they could not pull through with this story only for 4.5 hours, there is always romance struggle between the title character and the man she desires. This they dared to elaborate on for almost 4.5 hours and the outcome is accordingly. Accordingly terrible. The director of these under 90 minutes we have here is Susanne Zanke and she also worked on those film from two and five years earlier. Zanke is also the writer here and this was one of her final career efforts and she is now retired for over a decade and in her mid70s. The other writer is Susanne Rasser from Austria. It seems she came up with the base material and seeing how these three films are the only projects based on her body of work is something I see as something really positive because I am sure what she came up with was just as bad as this film. Otherwise, she would have said after the first film that the quality is so unwatchable at times that she does not want her art and creativity to be turned into something this embarrassing. Thw two Susannes really came up with a trilogy of horror here while pretending it is an artistic achievement. Please see through that.
As for the cast, most people and actors return here and no respect for them either because they also knew by then that the quality would be horriblle once more. Just like it was in films one and two. All for the GEZ money. This is why they reappeared. truly shameful. The lead actress that plays Anna once more is Austrian Sissi Wolf. Let me assure you there is nothing Romy Schneider about her and she also had some pretty weak moments of acting in here. Cannot say anything else about her. She is not too famous. The male co-lead Roman Knizka is probably more known, but that does not mean he is good or anything. On the contrary. He shows maybe two face expression max during this movie. During the entire trilogy. Which most likely makes him even worse than Wolf. One who is probably at least as known as Knizka is Halmer. If you see the two big films he has been a part of from decades ago, it could not be any more tragic than to see him in nonsense movies and sequels like this one. He has been in so many of them. I still find him kinda likable, but the fact that he kept accepting these roles, says nothing positive about him at all. Again, all for the GEZ money here. The actors are paid pretty well for these. The older female character here, even mich older than Halmer, is played by Erni Mangold. She is way over 90 now, so over 80 in here already too, but she is still a pretty prolific actress. She started acting in the late 1940s, so soon after World War II. Unreal how much time is gone since then. So we will see if she can still make it to 75 years in the industry. Two years to go. She is also from Austria by the way, which adds further to the Austrian impact here and it's of course also an Austrian co-production. But I cannot say anything positive about her or Halmer in here. Their stories make no sense at all either, even if I am not sure to what extent they are personally to blame and to what extent the screenplay is at fault because not even the most talented actors could have made this mess work. Then again, they accepted the roles, so they are definitely not free of blame.
There is again so much wrong about the story. The issues are basically the same as in the previous movie(s) and everything new they added in here felt absolutely unrealistic. Anyway, the key problem is once again that the two love each other dearly, but one is from the city and one from the countryside. And they belong there, so they cannot be together for a long. Of course, for us not to forget how desirable the two are, there is another stunning woman next to Knizka's character here and there and to the title character, there is still her ex-boyfriend's needy brother always there for her. I mean that one was humiliated so hard all the way through the second film already that you could say that the actor must enjoy the humiliation if he plays that part again. And what was up with that "Bayer sucht Frau" spoof? Yeah, very realistic that they show up right there. Unreal stuff. The really sad thing is that this little inclusion, as quickly as it was gone again, was still among the film's better aspects. And it was not good at all. This shows you how much everything else about this movie sucked. One of the women there was by the way at least as stunning as the title character, but of course needy Gerhard must not drool over anybody other than Anna. As for Anna, she of course ends up in bed so quickly again with Bogdan that it isn't even funny anymore. Not that it ever was. His little anecdote there while they lie in bed together was so deep and touching that she immediately had to turn round and kiss him and have sex. Sure thing. By the way, Bogdan was called by Mangold's character because the two are having such a great relationship of course. Since the first film. Don't even get me started on the idea that they really went for three films woth this cute inclusion that he keeps carrying her around. Sigh.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that this film is also about the protagonist's pregnancy and of course Bogdan is the father. Birth control not that much of a thing back then huh. Oh wait, they were so madly in love that there was just no time I assume. In an case, the problems become bigger when they realize again that they cannot be together. Of course, the issues early on involve that she does not even want to tell him, but thanks to Granny he at least knows that it could be the case. Of course, it is also perfectly fine in these anti-male movies that the woman lies to the father that there is no pregnancy. If a man did the exact same thing the other way around (I know it's not biologically possible, but still), then he would be absolutely despicable and a real antagonist in here. Still the truth must out and it comes out the most dramatic manner possible. Several examples there. I take one from early on how of course people fall unconscious so many times from pregnancies in these movies that you would think these films play 200 years ago in the past where people/women were generally weaker than today, generally less aware of the facts of life etc. Also the protagonist's friend tells her that she must stop with how she wants to master everything on her own without help from the outside and this of course also shows us what an independently strong young woman our Anna is in here. Oh my. I don't even know where to begin. One thing i also find almost worse than everything else about these films is how bland they are visually despite the beautiful region where they are set. I mean here and there they include some baby goats and their sounds and that's it pretty much. Ridiculous. So no matter which production values you look at, it all goes wrong. This also applies to some of the moments when this film tires to be funny. There aren't too many, but one thing is safe: Those that are there are never funny and always cringeworthy. The title with the mill joke reference is still better I guess. But for example Mangold's character's little confused joke on the phone is never remotely funny. And don't even get me started on quotes like "nobody has ever survived death", even if this one moment was also meant in a serious manner with the answer that every single parent has. Man how full of itself dares this film to be.
There are many pseudo dramatic moments like this. One of the cringeworthiest is probably Knizka's talk about how, even if he will be with another woman one day, he can never be 100% with her because of Anna. I don't even. I mean I am more romantic than most guys, but this is just way too much here. Zero subtlety. Oh and the supporting characters are getting their weak stories too. Take a look at Halmer's character. All of a sudden, we find out that his true love is a female character from these films is a woman that has been in films one and two as well and they never had anything to do with each other. This is almost as absurd as Anna, in the second movie, all of sudden dating a guy that she had no interest in at all in the first film. Man, the actor who played her boyfriend very early in the first film before Bogdan showed up must be so glad to have gotten out of this mess so quickly. Anyway, as for Halmer's character here, his romance story is as fake and unauthentic as it gets. And of course, with films like this, they do not even have to become a couple or anything, but the marriage proposal is there right away. The epitome of how the only right men have in these films to exist is if they please women. All because it#s mostlly women that are watching these films. I applaud every woman in the audience that sees through this charade. Of course, the woman Halmer's character is interested in is very hesitant. Needless to say. And of course, as always with these films, there is a somewhat happy ending in here. Not 100% happy, but still unrealistically happy given all the drama before. And old Germans are once again racist in terms of the Islam to fit in with the political climate. Oh and somehow Halmer's character is not half the antagonist he was in the previous movies. Guess what Oma Erni told him in the second film was enough punishment. 100% skip.
As for the cast, most people and actors return here and no respect for them either because they also knew by then that the quality would be horriblle once more. Just like it was in films one and two. All for the GEZ money. This is why they reappeared. truly shameful. The lead actress that plays Anna once more is Austrian Sissi Wolf. Let me assure you there is nothing Romy Schneider about her and she also had some pretty weak moments of acting in here. Cannot say anything else about her. She is not too famous. The male co-lead Roman Knizka is probably more known, but that does not mean he is good or anything. On the contrary. He shows maybe two face expression max during this movie. During the entire trilogy. Which most likely makes him even worse than Wolf. One who is probably at least as known as Knizka is Halmer. If you see the two big films he has been a part of from decades ago, it could not be any more tragic than to see him in nonsense movies and sequels like this one. He has been in so many of them. I still find him kinda likable, but the fact that he kept accepting these roles, says nothing positive about him at all. Again, all for the GEZ money here. The actors are paid pretty well for these. The older female character here, even mich older than Halmer, is played by Erni Mangold. She is way over 90 now, so over 80 in here already too, but she is still a pretty prolific actress. She started acting in the late 1940s, so soon after World War II. Unreal how much time is gone since then. So we will see if she can still make it to 75 years in the industry. Two years to go. She is also from Austria by the way, which adds further to the Austrian impact here and it's of course also an Austrian co-production. But I cannot say anything positive about her or Halmer in here. Their stories make no sense at all either, even if I am not sure to what extent they are personally to blame and to what extent the screenplay is at fault because not even the most talented actors could have made this mess work. Then again, they accepted the roles, so they are definitely not free of blame.
There is again so much wrong about the story. The issues are basically the same as in the previous movie(s) and everything new they added in here felt absolutely unrealistic. Anyway, the key problem is once again that the two love each other dearly, but one is from the city and one from the countryside. And they belong there, so they cannot be together for a long. Of course, for us not to forget how desirable the two are, there is another stunning woman next to Knizka's character here and there and to the title character, there is still her ex-boyfriend's needy brother always there for her. I mean that one was humiliated so hard all the way through the second film already that you could say that the actor must enjoy the humiliation if he plays that part again. And what was up with that "Bayer sucht Frau" spoof? Yeah, very realistic that they show up right there. Unreal stuff. The really sad thing is that this little inclusion, as quickly as it was gone again, was still among the film's better aspects. And it was not good at all. This shows you how much everything else about this movie sucked. One of the women there was by the way at least as stunning as the title character, but of course needy Gerhard must not drool over anybody other than Anna. As for Anna, she of course ends up in bed so quickly again with Bogdan that it isn't even funny anymore. Not that it ever was. His little anecdote there while they lie in bed together was so deep and touching that she immediately had to turn round and kiss him and have sex. Sure thing. By the way, Bogdan was called by Mangold's character because the two are having such a great relationship of course. Since the first film. Don't even get me started on the idea that they really went for three films woth this cute inclusion that he keeps carrying her around. Sigh.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that this film is also about the protagonist's pregnancy and of course Bogdan is the father. Birth control not that much of a thing back then huh. Oh wait, they were so madly in love that there was just no time I assume. In an case, the problems become bigger when they realize again that they cannot be together. Of course, the issues early on involve that she does not even want to tell him, but thanks to Granny he at least knows that it could be the case. Of course, it is also perfectly fine in these anti-male movies that the woman lies to the father that there is no pregnancy. If a man did the exact same thing the other way around (I know it's not biologically possible, but still), then he would be absolutely despicable and a real antagonist in here. Still the truth must out and it comes out the most dramatic manner possible. Several examples there. I take one from early on how of course people fall unconscious so many times from pregnancies in these movies that you would think these films play 200 years ago in the past where people/women were generally weaker than today, generally less aware of the facts of life etc. Also the protagonist's friend tells her that she must stop with how she wants to master everything on her own without help from the outside and this of course also shows us what an independently strong young woman our Anna is in here. Oh my. I don't even know where to begin. One thing i also find almost worse than everything else about these films is how bland they are visually despite the beautiful region where they are set. I mean here and there they include some baby goats and their sounds and that's it pretty much. Ridiculous. So no matter which production values you look at, it all goes wrong. This also applies to some of the moments when this film tires to be funny. There aren't too many, but one thing is safe: Those that are there are never funny and always cringeworthy. The title with the mill joke reference is still better I guess. But for example Mangold's character's little confused joke on the phone is never remotely funny. And don't even get me started on quotes like "nobody has ever survived death", even if this one moment was also meant in a serious manner with the answer that every single parent has. Man how full of itself dares this film to be.
There are many pseudo dramatic moments like this. One of the cringeworthiest is probably Knizka's talk about how, even if he will be with another woman one day, he can never be 100% with her because of Anna. I don't even. I mean I am more romantic than most guys, but this is just way too much here. Zero subtlety. Oh and the supporting characters are getting their weak stories too. Take a look at Halmer's character. All of a sudden, we find out that his true love is a female character from these films is a woman that has been in films one and two as well and they never had anything to do with each other. This is almost as absurd as Anna, in the second movie, all of sudden dating a guy that she had no interest in at all in the first film. Man, the actor who played her boyfriend very early in the first film before Bogdan showed up must be so glad to have gotten out of this mess so quickly. Anyway, as for Halmer's character here, his romance story is as fake and unauthentic as it gets. And of course, with films like this, they do not even have to become a couple or anything, but the marriage proposal is there right away. The epitome of how the only right men have in these films to exist is if they please women. All because it#s mostlly women that are watching these films. I applaud every woman in the audience that sees through this charade. Of course, the woman Halmer's character is interested in is very hesitant. Needless to say. And of course, as always with these films, there is a somewhat happy ending in here. Not 100% happy, but still unrealistically happy given all the drama before. And old Germans are once again racist in terms of the Islam to fit in with the political climate. Oh and somehow Halmer's character is not half the antagonist he was in the previous movies. Guess what Oma Erni told him in the second film was enough punishment. 100% skip.
