Mr. Wichmann from the third row

Just at present one is confronted as a normal citizen with always new horror messages. Euro crisis, drastic increase in electricity prices, exploding fuel costs, blatant economic missteps - and again and again one wonders why politics does not intervene or spasmodically sticks to obviously wrong resolutions. Andreas Dresen's second visit to Mr. Wichmann from the CDU almost ten years after the first documentary gives the viewer the answer to this question in a very entertaining way. In Mr. Wichmann from the third row, one term in particular becomes the perfect synonym for why there seems to be so much gridlock in politics: the Screaming Eagle!

Henryk Wichmann, 33, has been an opposition member of the Brandenburg state parliament since 2009. With sheer unwavering commitment, Wichmann looks after the interests of his district and goes straight to the grassroots to do so. He sits down with senior citizens for coffee and lets them vent all their frustrations about politics, Hartz IV scroungers and bureaucracy on him, he visits schools, small businesses or senior citizens' fairs and always has an open ear for the concerns of the little man - no matter how absurd they may be. He tries to get a grip on problems with illegal rubbish dumps or a very abstruse-sounding regulation of the Deutsche Bahn and to finally get a repeatedly postponed extension of a cycle path underway. But again and again Mr. Wichmann fails because of the stubbornness of associations, colleagues, citizens' initiatives or individuals - and of course because of the lesser spotted eagle.

For one year Andreas Dresen accompanied the young CDU politician with his camera. He observes a committed man who has to deal with seemingly small problems, but which are emblematic of all the big things that do not want to work in politics. There are oversized egos and too much opposition getting in the way of the will to move and compromise. Whether it's the crying eagle that might be bothered by a few cyclists or discussions about pensions or the energy transition, the problems in finding solutions are the same. In this respect, the film could actually leave you extremely frustrated.

But Andreas Dresen knows wonderfully how to let the disillusionment always follow something uplifting. Because as long as there are people who are fully committed to the idea of democracy, no matter which party they come from, and actually try to carry out their government mission not for their own ego, but for the citizens, no matter how many hurdles are put in front of them every day, as long as politics still makes sense. As absurd as what Mr. Wichmann from the third row experiences day after day may seem, as desperate as the viewer may want to throw his hands over his head in some moments, the film also shows that there is always a way and that even extremely entrenched problems can always be solved somehow. Sometimes you just have to jump over your own shadow and simply not get discouraged. The fact that this important message is conveyed in such an entertaining and clever way is a very nice side effect of this documentary, which not only viewers interested in politics, but also all those who are disenchanted with politics should definitely watch!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp