When I noticed the running time, 2:42, on the DVD jacket of
Toni Erdmann (2016), I thought about returning it to Netflix unwatched. That would have been a mistake. It is a thoughtful, unusual film, the type more likely to be made overseas than in America. While the story is simple, the emotions, at times the lack of, are complex. Unannounced, a German retiree visits his fortyish, single daughter, who has been assigned to Bucharest, Romania to oversee the downsizing of an oil company. An eccentric given to
faux pas, he is concerned, as the ambitious woman is living a shell of an existence, so focused on her climb up the corporate ladder that she is neglecting the experiences and emotions that give life its richness. Realizing he's in the way, he leaves after a couple of days. Undeterred, in a show of fatherly love, he returns having donned a long-haired wig and cheap suit and passing himself off as a business consultant, insinuating himself into her life. This leads to a number of awkward moments, which is precisely his aim, as he tries to restore the life in his beloved. I was sure it was going to be a one-dimensional condemnation of corporate culture. How refreshing that the takeover target needed a complete makeover. Does Erdmann reach his daughter? Yes, but not in a happily ever after way. He leads her to a better place, not total happiness. Is the movie too long? Yes, it could have been trimmed a bit, but it is always interesting. In reading the summary prior to viewing, I expected it to be a broad comedy. It is not. It is grounded in reality, despite the outrageousness of dear old dad. I would have shortened the lone sex scene, which concludes with an action so unusual to a mainstream film that it had me questioning what I thought I saw. If there is broader symbolic meaning to that moment, it went over my head. I usually snicker at nudity in cinema. I find 99% of it gratuitous. In another scene, a party - asexual - it is appropriate, designed to make the viewer as uncomfortable as the attendees. The most memorable scene occurs at another party, where the father, finally getting to his daughter, gets her to sing Whitney Houston's
The Greatest Love of All as he accompanies her on piano. I laughed out loud at first, then cringed as she let loose and butchered the high notes.
Toni Erdmann was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film. Peter Simonischek and Sandra Huller, both previously completely unfamiliar to me, are outstanding as the leads. Maren Ade wrote the screenplay and directed, her third stint at the helm of a full length feature. 28,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 7.5 on a scale of ten. For a change, the disk's subtitles were nice and large.
Toni Erdmann is a work worthy of lengthy commentary. Kudos to Ade for challenging the audience. Here is Simonischek as the protagonist:
RIP Harry Dean Stanton, 91, one of Hollywood's all-time great character actors. There are 199 titles under his name at IMDb, including one that will be released posthumously. Although his career began as far back as 1954 with an appearance on
Inner Sanctum, and although he did guest shots on scores of popular TV series throughout the '60's, I first noticed him in
Dillinger (1973, screenplay John Milius), in which he played cohort Homer Van Meter. I laughed out loud as he said: "Things ain't workin' out for me today." It is criminal that he was never nominated for an Oscar. Well done, sir. Thank you. Here he is as Homer:
My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases on a day when many were complaining about the heat and humidity. Monsey has bought many books from me through the years, most of them of a spiritual nature. This afternoon she mentioned cookies her mom baked every Christmas back in the day when the family was living in Chicago. She was frustrated at not being able to track down the recipe. That reminded me that I had a book,
Cooking for Christ: the Liturgical Year in the Kitchen by Florence S. Berger, I'd intended to give away either to her or another of my regulars, whichever arrived first. Published in 1949, it's condition is only fair, its cover in need of cleaning. An hour later she returned saying we must have been brother and sister in a previous lifetime. There was only one cookie recipe in the book - the one her mother used. I was tickled pink.
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