The Last Beautiful Day - DVD

Content: It's a really nice sunny autumn day when Lars (Wotan Wilke Möhring), his daughter Maike (Matilda Merkel) and his son Piet (Nick Julius Schuck) receive seemingly normal phone calls from Mama Sybille (Julia Koschitz). But when Lars comes home from work that day, his wife is not there. Since Lars knows that Sybille is mentally very unstable, he is immediately very worried - and rightly so, as it turns out. Because Sybille just couldn't cope with her life and its demands anymore and decided to commit suicide. The suicide throws Lars and the children completely off track. While their father tries with all his might to stay strong for his children, Maike and Piet don't quite know how to deal with their grief. But somehow life has to go on, even if it will never be the same as on that last beautiful day...

In The Last Beautiful Day screenwriter Dorothee Schön deals with the suicide of her mother and her sister in a very sensitive way. You can tell that the story was written by someone who knows how helpless the bereaved feel, but at the same time tries to understand the people who simply don't have the strength to function in society anymore and fight against their desire not to want to live anymore.

Although the production is not completely free of clichés. For instance, the arguably insensitive conversations that take place during the funeral service are already a bit striking. And there are other scenes that repeatedly fall into the conventional pattern of common TV dramas. But the strong acting of the actors, especially Wotan Wilke Möhring, and some very touching scenes, in which director Johannes Fabrick shows a very effective emotional restraint, easily console over the small weaknesses.

The very sensitive handling of the difficult subject matter also prevents the film from degenerating into an overly kitschy touching piece. This proves to be a great strength insofar as it is the small, quiet moments that are particularly touching and sometimes bring tears to your eyes. Surely, the drama doesn't offer light entertainment. Rather, the story is sometimes very depressing, a feeling that doesn't just disappear after the end of the film. Nevertheless, anyone who appreciates well-acted and intensely staged dramas from Germany should not miss this award-winning TV production. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The image of this TV production is very clean and features atmospheric coloring. Image sharpness is at a decent level, though in darker scenes it shows some noticeable weaknesses due to slight image noise. Overall, a good but largely unspectacular conversion, which can also be noted in this form with the sound. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix allows dialogue to ring out with good intelligibility, but has little in the way of real highlights except for the restrained soundtrack and some decent ambient noise. For a very quiet TV production, however, this is perfectly adequate. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, the DVD has no extras to offer.

Conclusion:The Last Beautiful Day is a moving TV drama that deals sensitively with the issues of suicide and coping with grief. Although the production of Johannes Fabrick is not entirely free of common and somewhat too striking clichés, but the strong play of the main actors and some very beautifully realized moments comfort over these weaknesses. Who appreciates German dramas of the very emotional, but not cheesy kind, this DVD can be warmly recommended despite the lack of bonus material

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp