The boy needs to get some fresh air

In the early 1970s, 9-year-old Hans-Peter (Julius Weckauf) grows up with his family in the Ruhr area. Although everything is not always rosy, the boy has developed a very cheerful disposition. He always manages to make his relatives laugh, but especially his mother (Luise Heyer). When his mother becomes more and more depressed due to the consequences of an operation, Hans-Peter sees it as his task to be even funnier and more cheerful for his mum, in order to be able to give her a smile even during this difficult time. Little does he know that he is laying the foundation for his later career, which will one day make him one of Germany's greatest entertainers.

The Boy Must Get Fresh Air recounts an important chapter in the childhood of Hape Kerkeling, one of Germany's most beloved comedians. Oscar winner Caroline Link (Nowhere in Africa) has sensitively and extremely effectively adapted the bestseller of the same name for the screen. Particularly with regard to the liberties she took, but also with regard to what is probably the saddest part of the story, she consulted closely with Kerkeling, who otherwise did not interfere in the production. He knew his story was in good hands with Link - and he's spot on with that attitude.

Because the award-winning filmmaker does a very good job of authentically bringing the early 1970s to life, with sets, music and fashion almost never deployed with the usual look-here's-how-fun-the-70s-penetrance, but rather using restraint to build an atmospheric '70s feel. Only in one scene does the camera catch a typical seventies curiosity a little too obviously. In this atmospheric setting, a story unfolds that Caroline Link tells with a balanced mix of humor and drama.

The liberties she takes are all too obvious in one scene in particular. For the fact that Hape Kerkeling invented his later cult figure Horst Schlämmer at a school play when he was still a toddler does not correspond to the truth, of course - but it just fits too well in the cinematic context of the story. What makes the film work really well, however, is how it deals with the suicide of Kerkeling's mother. Here Link has shown a sensitivity that not only pays respect to the protagonists of her film or their real role models, but also ensures a powerful emotionality far from any form of kitsch. As amusing as the biographical film may be at some points, here it really moves to tears.

This is also to the credit of actress Luise Heyer and her young colleague Julius Weckauf, who proves to be a real stroke of luck. The boy is simply great and can convince both as a born entertainer with mischievousness in his neck, as well as in scenes that require of him in part also a very subtle sadness. Actors, direction, music and set design all combine to make The Boy Needs Fresh Air wonderful feel-good cinema for laughs and tears. A beautiful film that more than lives up to the spirit of the original. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp