The church remains in the village - DVD

Content: Actually, life in the Swabian Oberrieslingen could be so beautiful. After all, the village lies between forest and vineyards. Here the Schwabenländle shows its particularly picturesque side. But unfortunately there is also Unterrieslingen. And there has long been bitter enmity between the inhabitants of the two neighbouring villages. No opportunity is missed to go at each other's throats. A pothole, which lies exactly on the border between the two villages, is currently heating up tempers. The tense situation threatens to escalate when grandma Häberle from Oberrieslingen passes away. Because the village has a church, but the cemetery is in Unterrieslingen. And after not only the funeral procession is hindered by the pothole, but Grandma's grave is then also placed right next to the compost harbour, this is tantamount to a declaration of war for the people of Oberrieslingen. When an American businessman shows up who wants to buy the Oberrieslinger church for several million, peace and quiet finally become foreign words in the rural idyll. But then the story takes a surprising turn...

What the comedies of Marcus H. Rosenmüller (Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot) were to the Bavarians, Ulrike Grote Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf was to the Swabians in the summer of 2012. While the film was only shown in a few cinemas in the rest of Germany and was even not shown at all in some major cities, the comedy filled the cinemas in Swabia to such an extent that SWR quickly commissioned a TV series telling the prequel story to the hit film. But even if the success in the cinema was rather limited to one federal state due to the very strong regional colouring, it is really not only possible to laugh as a Swabian about the quarrels between Upper and Lower Rieslingen. For Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf is, apart from a few small hangs, a really funny comedy that provides a lot of good humor with a lot of situational comedy, some black humor and sympathetic characters.

The story centers on the three Häberle sisters from Oberrieslingen: the rather reserved Christine (Karoline Eichhorn), the resolute Maria (Natalia Wörner) and nestling Klara (Julia Nachtmann), who has fallen in love with horse farmer Peter (Hans Löw) from Unterrieslingen, of all people. Especially Natalia Wörner proves to be a perfect cast, who manages to create amusing moments with a mixture of research, wit, charm and a little sensuality. These arise not only in the numerous confrontations of the sisters among themselves or with the inhabitants of the rival village, but also whenever the Swabian dialect meets the High German and thereby provides for amusing misunderstandings (Do you have free rooms? Noi you can be quiet also old).

While not all the gags work, now and then the humor is simply too overdone and especially at the beginning the music seems a bit too intrusive. But the positive overall impression that the film leaves is only marginally marred by this. All in all, Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf is a really nice comedy, which can please with many amusing ideas, a lot of local charm and with likeable actors even beyond the Swabian borders. If you like German comedies of the more traditional kind and can laugh at the films of Marcus H. Rosenmüller, you will certainly enjoy this Swabian village feud. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD is very clean, soiling or similar image disturbances you are looking here fortunately in vain. The image sharpness is on a good level, now and then the detail representation could have been a little clearer. The colors are mixed very natural and powerful and underline the overall positive impression. The sound is dominated in the first minutes mainly by the somewhat exhausting music, then the rather centrally mixed dialogue dominates the action. Only a few minor sound effects and atmospherically implemented ambient sounds ensure that some movement can also be detected in the surround channels. For a comedy, this is absolutely sufficient, so that the bottom line for picture and sound quality is a satisfactory good.

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has eight making of clips to offer (altogether about 16 min.), in which actor Dominik Kuhn in a not always entirely serious way throws an insight into various aspects of the production. In addition, there is the clip to the song Reggi di uff (approx. 4 min.), which can also be seen in the credits of the film, as well as the trailer to the film and further program tips of the provider. Not much, but quite amusing and worth seeing!

Conclusion: The church remains in the village is an amusing comedy, which is in places for viewers who are not powerful Swabian dialect, somewhat difficult to understand, but has enough wit and charm to just not only work well in Swabia. After the great success in the cinema, the feud between Oberrieslingen and Unterrieslingen now also offers the material for a TV series. But before that, the film will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray and can finally be enjoyed by all viewers who couldn't see it in the cinema. If you like German comedies with a bit of black humour, local charm and likeable actors, you are guaranteed to have a great time watching the lively goings-on of the hostile Swabians. For this there is then also a Germany-wide: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp