TIFF16 Film #1

Reason for Pick – Eli’s Hayes’ review out of Cannes

Toni Erdmann is a complex dance that paints the outline of the relationship between a lonely father and his career occupied daughter, who's living abroad.

I went in with the impression that this was going to be two hours and forty minutes of non-stop laughter. It isn’t. While there are frequent laugh-out-loud moments, and two scenes that sends the audience into fits, the remainder ranges from poignant to painful to awkward. Writer / Director Maren Ade isn’t afraid to linger on a shot, often cutting a few seconds after the natural beat, which gives a feeling of reality over scripted drama. She also isn’t afraid to use…

[8]

Well, Christian Petzold broke the ice, but it looks like Maren Ade's going to bring it home: the "Berlin School" has broken beyond the rarefied festival circuit to produce bona fide hits. What's particularly shocking about this turn of events is that, unlike other segments of the austere art-film universe, the Berlin School appears to have crossed over into the mainstream almost by accident. Apart from slightly more direct plotting, there's nothing about Petzold's Phoenix that made it inherently more accessible than his earlier films. And now, Ade gives us Toni Erdmann, a generational comedy that, at its core, is about the inappropriate character and unavoidable embarrassment that accompanies "humor" between the generations.

Ade has long been the stealth…

Wenn ich so einen Film vorgesetzt bekomme bringe ich immer wieder eine zwar harte aber vielleicht gar nicht so weit hergeholte These zum Ausdruck. 
Es gibt genau zwei Arten von Arthouse-Filmen. 
Die Filme die man nicht ohne Grund  als Kunst bezeichnet. Wo man riesigen Aufwand betreibt, liebe und Arbeit reinsteckt um die Grenzen des normalen Blockbusterkinos sprengen und neue und experiementelle Wege gehen. Filme die eben nicht nur unterhalten, sondern auch immer ein Stück weit magisch sind. Filme dieser Art wären zum Beispiel LaLaland, Victoria,  Shape of Water oder Call me by your Name. 

Dann gibt es aber auch die Sorte von Arthouse-Filmen die so tuen als wären sie Kunst aber in keiner Disziplin auch nur irgendwie künstlerisch sind. Wo…

Never lose your sense of humour
-Toni Erdmann

Its a story about a relationship between a father and daughter, their progressive reaction to life and changes. It's more of a character driven movie than plot driven one.
Wilfried, an odd and mediocre looking old man who leads an simple life , loves small pranks and gimmicks which can get cringey and embarrassing at times for others, but his humours are mostly come out of love not harm. He always keeps an ill fitted false teeth in his pocket wherever he goes and introduce himself to people as Toni Erdmann, his self invented alter ego. He lives an independent, liberal life.

Ines, another important character, who is very dependent on her…