Almanya - Welcome to Germany

Integration has been THE topic in recent months. So it's no wonder that now, after countless talk shows, books and newspaper articles, it has also found its way into the cinema. However, "Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland" does not approach the topic as doggedly and filled with anger as it has been in the public eye lately. But the charming comedy is also only partially successful.

Inspired by many of sisters Yasemin and Nesrin Samdereli's own experiences, the film tells the story of Hüseyin Yilmaz, who once came to Germany as a 1,000,001 guest worker and now lives together with his entire family in a kind of German-Turkish patchwork. While six-year-old grandson Cenk (Rafael Koussouris) has to deal with the difficult question of whether he is a Turk or a German, the time has come for Hüseyin (Vedat Erincin) to rebuild a stronger bond with his old homeland. And so he surprises his family with the fact that he has bought a house in Turkey, which all of them are supposed to fix up together during the next holidays. After initial protests, the family sets off on their journey, during which Cenk's cousin Canan (Aylin Tezel) tells the little boy the story of how the young Hüseyin (Fahri Yardim) came to Germany at the end of the 1960s and later brought his wife and children with him. But is "Almanya" really the new home or will it always remain Turkey for the children who grew up in Germany?

It is very pleasant how uninhibitedly the Samdereli sisters deal with the subject matter and how much wit they can elicit from the integration theme. Also the fact that one-sided clichés are not thrown around, but both cultures are confronted with their inherent prejudices in an amusing way, is one of the great strengths of this family comedy. The relaxed production also scores points with a superbly selected ensemble of actors, with Vedat Erincin as the old Hüseyin and Demet Gül as the young Fatma being particularly inspiring.

However, the fun is not entirely undimmed. Some gags are very original and lovingly realized, such as the way Hüseyin, Fatma and the children hear the German language when they arrive in their new home. Here the sisters had a very nice idea indeed. Other aspects, however, are less original. Especially the many clichés towards the Germans are unfortunately very worn out and can mostly only elicit a tired smile. But there is one scene that is really disturbing. In a subway an older couple gets upset about the many merrily loud Turkish children, which Canan comments with a quite justified outburst of rage. Through this scene, however, the other, rather funny gags, which play with the quirks of the Germans, are negatively colored, while the partly quite biting play with the clichés of Turkish culture is implemented throughout charming and endearing. If not for that one scene, the whole thing would have seemed a bit more balanced, but that anger-filled moment unfortunately ruins a lot of the lightheartedness that dominates in itself.

No question, "Almanya - Welcome to Germany" is a nice film that has its heart in the right place. But the bottom line is that the play with cultural clichés is a bit unbalanced and quite a few gags are just too stale to really do justice to the nice basic idea and the convincing performances of the actors. Well-intentioned, but unfortunately not consistently convincing and therefore only worth seeing with restrictions!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp