King of Germany

Really special is nothing in the life of Thomas Müller (Olli Dittrich). But somehow he is quite content with the fact that everything is average with him. So there are at least no unpleasant surprises. Far from it, as Thomas has to find out one day when he loses his job because of an e-mail he supposedly sent. In one fell swoop, he finds himself without any hope or perspective, and his entire worldview threatens to fall apart. But a seemingly chance encounter with entrepreneur Stefan Schmidt (Wanja Mues) pulls him back from the brink. The charismatic man offers Thomas a job at his company Industries Unlimited. Admittedly, he is not quite sure what he is supposed to do there. Nevertheless, Thomas gratefully accepts the offer - and he is amazed when his mediocrity suddenly seems to become the measure of all things. Because no matter whether it's office furniture, clothing, food or politics - his opinion is sought on everything. A seemingly completely relaxed dream job. But this impression changes abruptly when Thomas finds out what Stefan and the company are really about.

King of Germany is the feature debut of David Dietl, the son of Helmut Dietl. And even if there are a few minor blemishes, the talented filius succeeds very well in stepping out of his father's oversized shadow right away with this first cinema directorial effort. For although there are some very clear parallels to the Jim Carrey hit The Truman Show and the film lacks a little satirical bite here and there, overall the comedy is extremely entertaining, clever and inventive. Carried by a wonderful Olli Dittrich, who fits the role of the unassuming everyman perfectly, the story delivers many quite wonderful laughs, especially in the first half. Some of them are built up very obviously, others hide in the detail-loving set or play out more in the background. So it's really worth taking a closer look at this film.

Total surveillance, manipulation of consumer behaviour and political power games - not really the stuff that light comedy entertainment is made of. But Dietl strikes a coherent balance between comedy and dramaturgical depth, between pure entertainment cinema and intellectual pretension. His film is first and foremost fun, but at the same time it also offers a number of aspects that are worth thinking about or discussing and philosophizing about. Now this may sound like King of Germany is very challenging head cinema that has an extremely complex profundity. That's certainly not the case, the production is just too straightforward for that and in some crucial moments just a bit too well-behaved. What David Dietl does prove very nicely, however, is that it is possible to offer the audience simple entertainment without completely underwhelming the intellect.

Whoever doesn't necessarily need jokes on a lower regulars' table level for a successful comedy, for whom humour and a good, meaningful story are not mutually exclusive, and whoever appreciates German cinema that doesn't always strictly adhere to the all-too-familiar Schema F, will definitely have fun with this very pleasant surprise. Despite a certain recognition value, a very good film overall, which shows in a wonderful way that even in the average can sometimes lie something very special. For this convincing proof that Olli Dittrich is an extremely talented actor, there can then be only one possible rating: Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp