Vincent will more - DVD

Film: Using mental illness for comedic purposes is always an extremely difficult balancing act. At times it can work, such as most recently in "Adam", where a man suffering from Asperger's Syndrome was at the center of the action. But it can also go completely to shit, as in the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez flop "Gili". Ralf Huettner's latest film "vincent will meer" is undoubtedly one of those works that manages to walk the tightrope very well. For Huettner takes the sufferers and their illnesses seriously and rather draws the humour from the clash with what we like to call normality.

Vincent (Florian David Fitz) has been living in his very own world since the death of his mother. His father (Heino Ferch), an ambitious local politician, can't cope at all with his son's Tourette's syndrome. And under the pretext that Vincent must learn to deal with his illness, he unceremoniously puts him in a clinic. But here the young man just feels trapped. He wants to get out. His destination: Italy. There he wants to scatter the ashes of his beloved mother in the sea. Together with the anorexic Marie (Karoline Herfurth) and his obsessive-compulsive roommate Alexander (Johannes Allmayer), Vincent escapes from the clinic one night, pursued by Vincent's father and the psychologist Dr. Rose (Katharina Müller-Elmau). An adventurous road trip begins, in the course of which the three fugitives learn more about themselves and their illnesses than would ever have been possible in the clinic.

What makes "vincent will meer" so successful is the mixture of sometimes very harsh realism and wonderfully light-hearted, understated humor. Huettner manages to never subject his characters to ridicule, which could very easily have happened with a Tourette's patient and an obsessive-compulsive. Rather, the film always takes its characters and their symptoms of illness seriously, managing to make the audience laugh with them rather than at them. At the same time, the story thankfully refrains from any form of moralistic finger-pointing, which is especially positive in the case of Marie, who is anorexic. Anorexia is a terrible disease that unfortunately destroys far too many young people. While the film does a good job of showing the symptoms and behaviors of anorexic people, it never condemns them. Marie is simply anorexic. Period. She's the only one who can do anything about it, but she keeps getting in her own way. To whip out the moral club here and lash out at the viewer, such as Marie reaching for the schnitzel roll after her initial approach to Vincent, would undermine the credibility of the story and certainly have a counterproductive effect on the very real power of the ending.

"vincent wants meer" is a wonderfully light film about some very heavy themes. The near-perfect blend of comedy and drama makes this one of the most refreshing and best German films of the last few months, which is why it is also: absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the DVD is on a good to very good level. The clean picture pleases with its decent overall sharpness and harmonious color mixing. Only with the contrasts there are small weaknesses in the darker moments. The sound is kept rather decent, but can convince with well-used ambient sounds and a coherent tuning of dialogue and soundtrack.

Extras: It starts with a very audible audio commentary by director Ralf Huettner and the two main actors Florian David Fitz and Johanes Allmayer, who talk besides anecdotes from the shooting also about various film errors or about the double task of Fitz as a leading actor and screenwriter. Interesting and good-humored, this commentary is both informative and entertaining.

Continue with a nearly 6-minute making of, which you can forget, however, if you watch the somewhat more detailed interviews with the actors, the director and the producers (altogether about 15 min.) and the uncommented look behind the scenes (about 4 min.). Eight minutes of cut scenes, which include an extended beginning, cast information and other DVD tips round out the bonus offerings.

Conclusion: "vincent will meer" was probably THE German surprise success of 2010. The mixture of comedy and drama works very well not only because of the excellent actors more than once. The DVD is technically convincing and also has short, but worth seeing bonus material to offer, with the audio commentary especially recommendable turned out.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp