A Journalist of Jewish descent in Berlin feels that he is a loser of the political changes in Germany after 1989. When his mother dies, he has to meet his brother to whom he has not talked ...
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Sensing their relationship is crumbling, Christian avoids celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend Julia and heads for Paris. She, alone in their Berlin flat, decides this is the time to ... See full summary »
Director:
Dani Levy
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Maria Schrader,
Mark Schlichter,
Jürgen Vogel
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Director:
Leander Haußmann
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Alexander Scheer,
Alexander Beyer,
Robert Stadlober
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Director:
Leander Haußmann
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Christian Ulmen,
Katja Danowski,
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Directors:
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Director:
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Director:
Vicco von Bülow
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Katharina Brauren,
Evelyn Hamann
The action comedy is set in 1944. Hitler appears in it as physically and mentally destroyed person who takes the advice of Goebbels in the actor-teacher of Jewish concentration camp for ... See full summary »
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Director:
Frank Beyer
Stars:
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Erwin Geschonneck,
Henry Hübchen
Jochen Falk and two further former Stasi agents embark on a dangerous mission to rescue the kidnapped president of Katschekistan. But soon it becomes clear that Falk pursues his own objectives.
Director:
Robert Thalheim
Stars:
Henry Hübchen,
Antje Traue,
Michael Gwisdek
A Journalist of Jewish descent in Berlin feels that he is a loser of the political changes in Germany after 1989. When his mother dies, he has to meet his brother to whom he has not talked for years and to meet all his other family members. But during the preparations for the funeral he plays a snooker-cup for paying his debts with the money for the victory, and many other things mixes up.Written by
Benjamin Stello
I usually find German comedies about as amusing as bad diarrhea. I love German cinema but films like "Der Schuh des Manitus" and the entire "Otto" series have traumatised me to the point where I now just stick with German dramas and thrillers. Therefore, it was a big surprise to find that Alles Auf Zucker is not only an extremely well made and acted film, but also very funny.
The set up in Alles Auf Zucker has been done many times before, bringing two mismatched parties together in order to reach a common goal. In this case, brothers Jaeckie and Samuel are forced to end their long running feud and strictly follow Jewish customs for 7 days after the funeral of their mother in order to accept her inheritance. The twist being that while Samuel's family live as orthodox Jews, Jaeckie has entirely forgotten his religion. Many of the laughs stem from Jaeckie's wife's last minute crash-course in Jewish culture and Jaeckie's general disinterest.
The film owes a lot of its charm to Henry Huebchen, who plays Jaeckie, and Hannelore Elsner, who plays his wife. Alles Auf Zucker is really built around Huebchen's performance and he is effortlessly convincing as an endearing loser. Elsner, in my opinion the best actress working in Germany at the moment, brings her usual skill and world weary charm to what is really little more than a supporting role. Udo Samel also deserves praise for his turn as Samuel, fleshing out a character that could have been little more than a stereotype in the hands of a lesser actor.
In addition to some fine performances, Alles Auf Zucker is also blessed with a witty script and stylish direction by Dani Levy. These qualities more than make-up for some lazy plotting, such as Samuel's Ecstasy experience, and the unnecessary touches of whimsy that have Jaeckie speak directly to the audience. I think the film could have also done without the creepy inter-cousin romance. Nevertheless, these are minor faults with what is a very funny and charming film.
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I usually find German comedies about as amusing as bad diarrhea. I love German cinema but films like "Der Schuh des Manitus" and the entire "Otto" series have traumatised me to the point where I now just stick with German dramas and thrillers. Therefore, it was a big surprise to find that Alles Auf Zucker is not only an extremely well made and acted film, but also very funny.
The set up in Alles Auf Zucker has been done many times before, bringing two mismatched parties together in order to reach a common goal. In this case, brothers Jaeckie and Samuel are forced to end their long running feud and strictly follow Jewish customs for 7 days after the funeral of their mother in order to accept her inheritance. The twist being that while Samuel's family live as orthodox Jews, Jaeckie has entirely forgotten his religion. Many of the laughs stem from Jaeckie's wife's last minute crash-course in Jewish culture and Jaeckie's general disinterest.
The film owes a lot of its charm to Henry Huebchen, who plays Jaeckie, and Hannelore Elsner, who plays his wife. Alles Auf Zucker is really built around Huebchen's performance and he is effortlessly convincing as an endearing loser. Elsner, in my opinion the best actress working in Germany at the moment, brings her usual skill and world weary charm to what is really little more than a supporting role. Udo Samel also deserves praise for his turn as Samuel, fleshing out a character that could have been little more than a stereotype in the hands of a lesser actor.
In addition to some fine performances, Alles Auf Zucker is also blessed with a witty script and stylish direction by Dani Levy. These qualities more than make-up for some lazy plotting, such as Samuel's Ecstasy experience, and the unnecessary touches of whimsy that have Jaeckie speak directly to the audience. I think the film could have also done without the creepy inter-cousin romance. Nevertheless, these are minor faults with what is a very funny and charming film.