The Bumblebee - DVD

Film: Pit Handlos (Jürgen Tonkel) is charming, successful and wealthy. At least that's what he wants those around him to believe. In reality, Pit is facing the ruins of his existence. His high investment in the distribution of beauty products has not paid off. He even lies to his son Flo (Michael Kranz) when he has to move in with the Filius after losing his apartment. Only a reunion with his childhood sweetheart Christiane (Inka Friedrich), to whom Pit tries to sell some of his beauty products, makes him realise that maintaining a successful façade will bring him even more misfortune and that only the truth would give him a new chance. But isn't it already too late for that?

The Bumblebee is a small, charming comedy from Lower Bavaria that skilfully masters the fine line between comedy and tragedy. Up-and-coming director Sebastian Stern, who has delivered a remarkable feature film debut with this thesis, has managed to stage a story that is in itself steeped in great drama and sadness with an exhilarating wink, the humour coming across as rather restrained and quiet, but nonetheless effective. The loss of social existence and the enormous pressure to nevertheless maintain a successful, middle-class facade thus never really drags the viewer down, despite the high degree of realism. And that is quite a small feat.

The good ensemble of actors, led by a wonderful Jürgen Tonkel (Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot) and Inka Friedrich (Sommer vorm Balkon), also contributes significantly to the fact that Die Hummel is never boring despite the very worn production. Tonkel's very understated performance in particular, which says an incredible amount about his character and his character's inner struggle through slight nuances in his facial expressions, is a real delight to watch.

Although the very laconic staging might not be everyone's cup of tea, really every viewer can take away a valuable insight at the end: like the bumblebee, which actually shouldn't be able to fly at all due to its thick body and short wings, but simply does, every human being can also create seemingly unattainable things - you just have to not think about it too much and simply act. Die Hummel is a likeable little film, a touching tragicomedy for all lovers of entertaining German arthouse fare. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press sample was available for testing, no final rating can be given about the final picture and sound quality at this point. However, the picture already made a decent impression here, with an atmospheric color scheme and a satisfactory overall sharpness, so that even with the purchase DVD can be assumed an adequate implementation. The fact that the sound remains rather restrained and discreet is not surprising for a silent comedy like this and therefore not a negative criterion.

Extras: In the bonus package, the interested viewer will find a barely 4-minute montage of cut scenes, a good interview with the director and the main actor, also about 4 minutes long, a nice slideshow with photos from the shooting, as well as the trailer for the film. Not much, but worth watching.

Conclusion: The Bumblebee is a quiet tragicomedy that scores with good actors and a good story. In addition to the main film, the DVD has some nice extras to offer. Highly recommended for lovers of small German comedies beyond the mainstream!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp