Tschick - Blu-ray

Film: Can life be any shittier? Not only does his mother have to go to rehab - again - for a few weeks, and his father goes on a business trip with his young assistant. To make matters worse, 14-year-old Maik Klingenberg (Tristan Göbel) is the only one in his class who hasn't been invited to the party of the most popular girl in the whole grade. Well, that's not entirely true. The new kid in his class, the more than strange Tschick (Anand Batbileg), wasn't invited either. But Maik doesn't really want to be lumped in with him. And now, of all times, Tschick shows up at his place and invites him for a joyride in a stolen Lada. Maik doesn't know why, but he lets himself be persuaded to go along - and thus begins an adventurous journey for the two boys that could turn out to be the best summer of their lives.

With Tschick, director Fatih Akin once again proves his versatility. Whether it's a comedy, a heavy drama, an explosive documentary, Akin seems to reinvent himself with each film, even if there are certain elements of style that may be common to some of his films. Now, for the first time, he has ventured into adapting a best-selling novel and a coming-of-age story. Wolfgang Herrndorf's multi-award winning novel has been enjoyed by over 2 million readers. The pressure to live up to this success and the legacy of the author, who died in 2013, was naturally great. However, none of this is apparent in the film, which exudes a pleasant lightness that has an extremely infectious effect on the viewer.

In how far Akin has captured the spirit of the original, I cannot judge at this point, as I have not read the novel - ashes on my head. Regardless, however, I can say that the director has done a very good job of capturing the upheaval in the lives of his young protagonists. Visually, the film has some quite wonderful moments to offer, enriched with a wonderfully unusual soundtrack (by Richard Clayderman, among others) and a lot of humor. But again and again the film leaves time for quieter, thoughtful moments, in which the dreams, longings and fears of the protagonists are revealed. The whole thing is not always done subtly, but quite credibly.

This is also thanks to the two great young actors, with Trsitan Goebel (West) in particular once again revealing quite great talent. There are admittedly also some weaknesses. For example, the scenes with the street girl Isa (Mercedes Müller) seem a bit tough and too contrived. In addition, it is difficult to identify a target audience for the film. For teenagers, the film might be too dialogue-heavy; for adult viewers who appreciate Akin's work, some moments might seem too flat or simply incomprehensible. Of course, there is an interface: a youthful audience that is open to more sophisticated fare, and adults who want to reminisce about their youth with films like Stand by Me, The Outsiders or Tschick. It will be interesting to see how large this intersection ultimately turns out to be and whether it will be enough to make the film, after a rather weak performance at the box office, at least a similarly big success in home cinema as the book was. Fatih Akin and his team should certainly hope so, because despite some weaknesses, Tschick is not only an amusing road movie, but also a very nice, entertaining film about the end of childhood. And for that then there is a more than deserved: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture of the Blu-ray can absolutely convince. The color scheme is powerful and captures the very special atmosphere of the film very well. The image sharpness is on a good to very good level. Soiling, blurring or even image distortions can be found here in vain. The sound is atmospherically mixed and ensures a decent use of the surround channels, not only through the soundtrack and the dialogue, which is well tuned for understanding. Good.

Extras: The Blu-ray has plenty of good extras to offer. Starting off are three interviews that are a pleasant departure from the usual promo clips. In the first, Fatih Akin explains the making of a scene for Spiegel Online (approx. 3:42 min.). In the second and best interview, Akin is sent on a short road trip in a Lada and asked about the film (approx. 11:43 min.). Finally, the last clip is a contribution from the show Circus Halli Galli (approx. 3:57 min.) - admittedly not an ordinary interview either. It continues with three music videos and a small making of the music video French Disco (ca. 2:40 min.). This is followed by some Behind the Scenes clips: a day on set (approx. 5:11 min.), an entertaining team film (approx. 9:09 min.), as well as a comparison of storyboard and finished film (approx. 3:29 min.).

The disc also has a standard promo making of (approx. 11:16 min.), two short cut scenes with optional audio commentary (approx. 4:06 min.), amusing outtakes (approx. 6:15 min.), and a premiere clip (approx. 3 min.) to offer. And there is also an entertaining, humorous and informative audio commentary by Fatih Akin, Lars Hubrich (screenplay) and Andrew Bird (editing). But the best extra is undoubtedly the recording of a reading of the novel by Wolfgang Herrndorf from 2010 (approx. 57:29 min.). Absolutely worth seeing!

Conclusion: With Tschick, director Fatih Akin once again proves his versatility. Tschick has become not only an amusing road movie, but also a very nice, entertaining film about the end of childhood. A successful adaptation of the novel, which presents itself on the Blu-ray in good picture and sound quality. The bonus material is quite extensive, and the recording of a reading of the novel by Wolfgang Herrndorf deserves special mention. A good disc that more than deserves a recommend!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp