Crazy (2000)

Benjamin is a 16 year old, paralyzed on one side of his body, with lousy grades in math, who switches to a boarding school to reach grammar school. Acclimatization to the new environment is... See full summary »

Director:

Hans-Christian Schmid

Writers:

Hans-Christian Schmid (screenplay), Michael Gutmann (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Stadlober, Tom Schilling, Oona-Devi Liebich

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Stadlober	...	Benjamin Lebert
Tom Schilling	...	Janosch Schwarze
Oona-Devi Liebich	...	Malen
Julia Hummer	...	Marie
Can Taylanlar	...	Troy
Christoph Ortmann	...	Kugli
Joseph Bolz	...	Dünner Felix
Willy Rachow	...	Florian
Dagmar Manzel	...	Juliane Lebert, Benjamins Mutter
Burghart Klaußner	...	Klaus Lebert, Benjamins Vater
Mira Bartuschek	...	Paula Lebert, Benjamins Schwester
Jörg Gudzuhn	...	Herr Falkenstein
Katharina Müller-Elmau	...	Frau Westphalen
Irene Kugler	...	Frau Bachmann
Germain Wagner	...	Herr Richter

Storyline

Benjamin is a 16 year old, paralyzed on one side of his body, with lousy grades in math, who switches to a boarding school to reach grammar school. Acclimatization to the new environment is difficult in the first place and he has to struggle with the various problems of coming of age, when he falls in love with the school's dream girl Malen.

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Plot Keywords:

group masturbation | group ejaculation | one word title | paralysis | friends masturbate together | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Karoline Herfurth.

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Alternate Versions

The German 2-DVD Special Edition contains several deleted scenes that were mostly cut for pacing reasons.

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Connections

Referenced in Delphinsommer (2004)

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Soundtracks

Serpentine
Written by Tom Barman
Performed by dEUS

User Reviews

How I wasted 90 minutes of my life...

This film is a portrait of the half-spastic teenage boy Benjamin who has to visit a boarding school because of his lousy marks in Math. He didn't make the best experiences in life before and got serious self-esteem issues. After a rough start at his new school, he starts making friends, falls in love with a girl and does some American Pieish teenage stuff.

Beside some comedy elements, the film is told in a very serious way, focussing on Benjamin and his problems.

If you already don't like this story outline, save your time and watch something else. If you do, please be aware of the following:

1) Benjamin is a total loser. Whatever he does, he does it terribly wrong and then he goes for self-pity all the time. For me he wasn't that kind of "charming loser" who you can feel sympathy for and laugh with. Instead he and his behavior really annoyed me and with my own teenage years not so far behind I could barely stand watching.

2) The film hardly tries to be realistic and the story seems to be but from my experience the characters just aren't (except for Janosch maybe). And yes, I know this film is based on an auto-biography written by a 17-year old - but having some experiences with German schools and German youth myself, I don't believe him.

3) Showing the sexual awakening really is an important thing for a film with this subject. But I doubt that teenage boys do an "Ejaculate on the cookie"-contest where everyone has to hit a cookie with his sperm during mass-masturbation in the woods and the loser has to eat the sperm-wet cookie afterwards. Although it kinda amused me in a contemptible way, it's nor funny neither underlining the serious attempts of this film.

4) There's a sub-plot about Benjamin's family and his father betraying his wife - still, I don't know why it's there and where to put it. It just bored me.

Well, I personally hated this film for having the character of Benjamin, being without a message, concept, scheme, whatever and it's failing attempts to be dramatic and serious. However, I can image that some people may find it sensible and touching. If you liked "The Other Sister" you'll probably like this one, too. I hated both.

17-year old boys shouldn't write an autobiography and if they do, it doesn't seem to be the best idea to make a film out of it.

2 out of 10.

Details

Official Sites:

Crazy

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

8 June 2000 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Crazy

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bayerischer Banken-Fonds, Claussen & Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1