Summer in Orange - Blu-Ray

Film: With films like Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot, director Marcus H. Rosenmüller has established himself as a master of the modern Heimatfilm. Summer in Orange is once again set in the Bavarian province. But while films like Räuber Kneissel or Die Perlmutterfarbe had a rather hard time in the rest of Germany, Sommer in Orange should work just as well beyond the Weißwurst equator. Because the film is first and foremost one thing: damn funny and extremely endearingly staged.

The year is 1980, and the passionate Bhagwan follower Amrita (Petra Schmidt-Schaller) moves with her children Lili (Amber Bongard) and Fabian (Béla Baumann) together with some like-minded people from a commune in Berlin to the picturesque village Talbichl in the deepest Bavarian province. With their rituals and their permissiveness, the sannyasins make few friends in the arch-conservative village. Especially the mayor (Heinz-Josef Braun) finds the newcomers a thorn in his side. It's bad enough that they disturb the Sunday service with their primal scream therapy or chant mantras half-naked in the garden. But when the enlightened ones also decide to build a therapy centre in the small village and thus attract even more of their kind, peace is gone for good. And Lili and Fabian have to suffer especially.

With Summer in Orange Marcus H. Rosenmüller has staged a culture-clash comedy of a very special kind. Rosenmüller knows perfectly how to create characters that are still endearing despite - or perhaps because of - their crankiness. Admittedly, he does expose some narrow-minded ways of thinking and attitudes to ridicule. But his characters never become silly caricatures, which is very good for the level of humor. Sure, some of the clichés played with here are already a bit worn out and therefore don't work quite as well anymore. But on balance, the clash of Bhagwan and brass band music works brilliantly as a jumping off point for some very amusing moments.

In addition to the well-cast adults, Rosenmüller has again managed to find very good child actors who don't act overly cool, but simply likeable and natural. When Lili protests against the far too anti-authoritarian upbringing of her mother and thus consciously opposes the commune, this not only has very funny consequences, but is also absolutely understandable thanks to the performance of Amber Bongard.

Although Summer in Orange doesn't quite match the wit and originality of Who Dies Earlier, Is Dead Longer, Marcus H. Rosenmüller has once again succeeded in making a biting and wonderfully quirky comedy that certainly offers a very special kind of enlightenment thanks to all the good laughs. And that's exactly what makes this film then: well worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Since only a press sample was available for testing, no rating can be given here about the final picture and sound quality. But the picture with its warm colors and good overall sharpness, and also the sound with the well-balanced mix of dialogues and music with some good sound effects and atmospheric ambient sounds, could already convince on the press DVD, which is why especially with the Blu-Ray can be assumed a very good technical implementation.

Extras: The DVD has in addition to trailers to the film still an entertaining and informative audio commentary by director Marcus H. Rosenmüller and screenwriter Ursula Gruber to offer. The Blu-Ray, on the other hand, has even more extras on offer that are worth seeing. It starts with a Making of (approx. 16 min.), which in its brevity offers a nice insight into the making of the film. It continues with six deleted scenes, which can optionally be viewed with a director's commentary. In it, Rosenmüller explains why the scenes, which also hide one or two nice moments, ultimately fell victim to the shears. A few outtakes (approx. 2:30 min.), a look at the visual effects in the film (approx. 1:30 min.), as well as three promotional featurettes (On Set with Rosi, Wer ist eigentlich spießig and Behind the Scenes) with a total running time of about 11 minutes round out the extras for the film.

Really worth watching, however, is the 43-minute documentary Der Sound der Heimat about the collaboration between Marcus H. Rosenmüller and his regular composer Gerd Baumann. The documentary not only offers an insight into the work of the two, but also provides a good overview of the director's very productive work to date. His beginnings can also be admired on the Blu-Ray. That's because the short film Kümmel und Korn, which Rosenmüller shot over four days in Prölling, Lower Bavaria, for the Munich Film Academy in 1999, is also included on the disc. A truly hearty offering that absolutely justifies the Blu-Ray purchase!

Conclusion: Summer in Orange is a culture-clash comedy of a particularly fun kind, once again showcasing director Marcus H. Rosenmüller's talent for endearing whimsical material. While the DVD is rather sparse in terms of extras, the Blu-ray has some very watchable material, including a documentary on Rosenmüller and his regular composer, as well as an early short film by the director. Absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp