"Kleine Schiffe" is a German television film from 2013. This one runs for 1.5 hours and is the first and so far only adaptation of a book written by Silke Schütze. The director is really experienced filmmaker Matthias Steurer and the screenplay is by Volker Krappen, who is certainly less experienced than the director. However, both of them have their fair share of failures in their bodies of work, so with this one here you should definitely keep your expectations low. The lead actress is Katja Riemann and you see her on the poster here on imdb on the left side. You could think that her and Tezel are co-lead here, but it really isn't the case. Tezel is probably even less in the lead than Schechinger. It's all about Riemann at the film's core, which may be the reason why she accepted to star in here and it probably also has to do with this being the adaptation of a successfull book. I am not sure. But it does not matter anyway. The outcome is pretty weak from beginning to end and sometimes even bad. There are some moments and plot developments that feel very unrealistic. The best example is the scene when Riemann meets the young man again and she knew him from hen he was in her therapy group. I mean don't even get me started on how this was supposed to be fake or something, but yeah, they should have come up with something better. Then again, it probably happened like this in the book already, so the blame is at least partially on Schütze. I have not read her novel, so I cannot really compare book and movie here. But I must say that the film did not get me curious about the book at all. The most despicable aspect about this movie, however, is the depiction of Riemann's character's illness, namely that she is a huge neurotic. This becomes really obvious early on with the stove scene and also with what she does immediately after her husband tells her that he will leave her. That is perfectly alright and it shows how severe it is. But whhat happens next? Absolutely nothing. They entirely excluded this story and illness once the husband is (for a while) out of the picture. It's ridiculous. It did not serve the story anymore or could get in the way of how they really wanted audiences to see Riemann as a likable character, so it was entirely excluded as if she is completely cured all of a sudden. What a miracle! It makes absolutely no sense and I find it highly offensive to people really struggling the way Riemann's character "pseudo-struggles" in this film. And yet we are supposed to believe that it was severe and permanent enough for her man to leave her. The latter is played by Hans Werner Meyer and it is between him and Peter Franke, who plays the protagonist's father, for the most known male actor in here.
The one slightly shining light in this film was Aylin Tezel. I watched her two "Informantin" movies (perhaps her career-defining role so far) not too long ago and I was baffled by how bad they were and a lot of that was because of Tezel, but in this movie we have here she she did a fine job although her character was also poorly written on many occasions. This already starts with the premise that said character is much younger than Tezel and not even the best make-up (which we certainly do not have here) ca make Tezel look this young. It's impossible to believe. Then there is this scene with the cops at the door that felt really cringeworthy too and also how effortlessly Riemann's character simply agrees that they share her home now. Oh well. Finally, Tezel (in the desperate idea of a happy ending for every character) also gets her man or at least it is implied she does with somebody recognizing the identity of her tattoo character. Must be true love. Still, apart from (or despite of) all these failure scenes, Tezel does a decent job. I liked her and I do not oppose the idea of her getting an award for her portrayal. It shows that she is a true scene stealer here and it hirts the film that she has almost no screen time in the second half. The one other actor who got some awards recognition (even if only a nomination) is Christoph Schechinger and I cannot understand why at all. I thought he was really bad. Like nothing about this film really shines, but he stood out in the most negative way nonetheless. There are many scenes and examples for that. One I must think of immediately is the pool billiard scene with the other guy who makes a joke about the man's preference for older women. This pool reference later on by Riemann's character when she talks to her man again is also touch to stomach. The opposite of a smart reference linked to what happened earlier in the movie. And don't even get me started about Riemann's great shot the exact moment the other guy says something. Or about the lover's comment about the other guy still living at home. It was so messed-up. The ending also did almost nothing for me. The pseudo conflict about everything being somewhat lost with Meyer's character (now knowing it is his child) moving back in again was not executed well at all. How they split up again not much later when they realize it is not working is only slightly better. And of course, the happy ending with Riemann's and Schechinger's character being reunited was easy to predict an hour earlier, but hey who cares. Of course they are made for each other. Okay, I do not know what else to say about this film. I initially thought I could give four stars here because of my personal bias with Riemann (don't like her at all, don't think she has a lot of range and I do think she is very overrated, even if she is not as bad as Ferres or so), but taking all the weaknesses into account, also how the "likable characters" act towards Meyer's character, I just cannot give this film a free card saying it is only weak when really it is downright terrible. I was about to, but then I remembered the fame illness story I mentioned at the end of the first paragraph. That one is just too offensive. Or how it is far too much of a coincidence that her man leaves her exactly the same day that she finds out she is pregnant. Before telling him, that is. And why does he not even think later on that it could be his child. Or the hands holding scene. Ah there is just too much that did not work out and felt cringeworthy. So you should definitely very much skip the watch here. The title is not good either by the way. Nothing about this movie is, well except Tezel here and there. Highly not recommended.
The one slightly shining light in this film was Aylin Tezel. I watched her two "Informantin" movies (perhaps her career-defining role so far) not too long ago and I was baffled by how bad they were and a lot of that was because of Tezel, but in this movie we have here she she did a fine job although her character was also poorly written on many occasions. This already starts with the premise that said character is much younger than Tezel and not even the best make-up (which we certainly do not have here) ca make Tezel look this young. It's impossible to believe. Then there is this scene with the cops at the door that felt really cringeworthy too and also how effortlessly Riemann's character simply agrees that they share her home now. Oh well. Finally, Tezel (in the desperate idea of a happy ending for every character) also gets her man or at least it is implied she does with somebody recognizing the identity of her tattoo character. Must be true love. Still, apart from (or despite of) all these failure scenes, Tezel does a decent job. I liked her and I do not oppose the idea of her getting an award for her portrayal. It shows that she is a true scene stealer here and it hirts the film that she has almost no screen time in the second half. The one other actor who got some awards recognition (even if only a nomination) is Christoph Schechinger and I cannot understand why at all. I thought he was really bad. Like nothing about this film really shines, but he stood out in the most negative way nonetheless. There are many scenes and examples for that. One I must think of immediately is the pool billiard scene with the other guy who makes a joke about the man's preference for older women. This pool reference later on by Riemann's character when she talks to her man again is also touch to stomach. The opposite of a smart reference linked to what happened earlier in the movie. And don't even get me started about Riemann's great shot the exact moment the other guy says something. Or about the lover's comment about the other guy still living at home. It was so messed-up. The ending also did almost nothing for me. The pseudo conflict about everything being somewhat lost with Meyer's character (now knowing it is his child) moving back in again was not executed well at all. How they split up again not much later when they realize it is not working is only slightly better. And of course, the happy ending with Riemann's and Schechinger's character being reunited was easy to predict an hour earlier, but hey who cares. Of course they are made for each other. Okay, I do not know what else to say about this film. I initially thought I could give four stars here because of my personal bias with Riemann (don't like her at all, don't think she has a lot of range and I do think she is very overrated, even if she is not as bad as Ferres or so), but taking all the weaknesses into account, also how the "likable characters" act towards Meyer's character, I just cannot give this film a free card saying it is only weak when really it is downright terrible. I was about to, but then I remembered the fame illness story I mentioned at the end of the first paragraph. That one is just too offensive. Or how it is far too much of a coincidence that her man leaves her exactly the same day that she finds out she is pregnant. Before telling him, that is. And why does he not even think later on that it could be his child. Or the hands holding scene. Ah there is just too much that did not work out and felt cringeworthy. So you should definitely very much skip the watch here. The title is not good either by the way. Nothing about this movie is, well except Tezel here and there. Highly not recommended.
