"Auf das Leben!" or "To Life!" is a German 85-minute movie from 2014, so relatively new. It was directed by Uwe Janson and written by a whole lot of writers, which is why I find it especially underwhelming how it turned out overall. The cast features two of the most known and most successful actors from Germany when it comes to their respective age groups: Max Riemelt and Hannelore Elsner. Riemelt plays a young man apparently running away from life, his girlfriend and everything else, while Elsner plays an old woman who has to leave her home and tries to commit suicide afterward because she does not really have any joy or perspective anymore in life. Luckily, Riemelt's character comes to save the woman's life and from that moment on the two have a connection that gets even further when they realize that the young man's father was a love interest many decades ago to the woman.
Anyway, the big problem I had with this film is that it is not too great when it comes to coincidence. looking at all that happens in these under 90 minutes, it is just not realistic or authentic anymore. The problem aren't the actors, the problem is the script. I still have to say that I am not a big fan of either Riemelt or Elsner. They were both okay in terms of their talent, but it's nothing either that makes me appreciate either of the two. Aylin Tezel, however, is a shining light once again and her scenes are possibly the very best moments of the movie. It's for a reason that she is included in the final moments of the film in a core role really and it helps the film, but it cannot save it anymore. Another problem with the movie is the drama. Lets be honest here, it is way too much. Nazi references, holocaust, dead parents², suicide attempts, heartbroken girlfriends, loneliness, destroyed careers etc and if this isn't enough already, then why not give the young man a fatal illness towards the end. It just doesn't feel credible anymore. By the way, about the illness I just mentioned, IMDb gives away a major spoiler in the plot summary and this is not good at all. Somebody should correct it.
Anyway, finally a note on how the film plays during two completely different times, namely the 1970s and the now. In the 1970s, they show us a bit about the earlier days of Elsner's character's life. And I personally did not appreciate these sequences at all. First of all, regardless of the question whether you consider Sharon Brauner talented or not, I felt she did not resemble Elsner physically at all, apart from the hair color. Bad casting decision there. With Riemelt, they simply took the easy path of having him play his own father when he was the same age as he is in the now. I was not convinced by this either, even if these parts were maybe Riemelt's best. And yeah, I mentioned the Holocaust references already. In my opinion, this was done to make the film even more dramatically relevant, but it all rang pretty false to me and just included for the sake of it. It's such an important topic that you have to handle it right. And I do not think, this was achieved here. "For the sake of it" is probably the right way to describe it. So yeah, there are some okay moments in this movie, but overall the weak outweighs the strong and that's why I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
Anyway, the big problem I had with this film is that it is not too great when it comes to coincidence. looking at all that happens in these under 90 minutes, it is just not realistic or authentic anymore. The problem aren't the actors, the problem is the script. I still have to say that I am not a big fan of either Riemelt or Elsner. They were both okay in terms of their talent, but it's nothing either that makes me appreciate either of the two. Aylin Tezel, however, is a shining light once again and her scenes are possibly the very best moments of the movie. It's for a reason that she is included in the final moments of the film in a core role really and it helps the film, but it cannot save it anymore. Another problem with the movie is the drama. Lets be honest here, it is way too much. Nazi references, holocaust, dead parents², suicide attempts, heartbroken girlfriends, loneliness, destroyed careers etc and if this isn't enough already, then why not give the young man a fatal illness towards the end. It just doesn't feel credible anymore. By the way, about the illness I just mentioned, IMDb gives away a major spoiler in the plot summary and this is not good at all. Somebody should correct it.
Anyway, finally a note on how the film plays during two completely different times, namely the 1970s and the now. In the 1970s, they show us a bit about the earlier days of Elsner's character's life. And I personally did not appreciate these sequences at all. First of all, regardless of the question whether you consider Sharon Brauner talented or not, I felt she did not resemble Elsner physically at all, apart from the hair color. Bad casting decision there. With Riemelt, they simply took the easy path of having him play his own father when he was the same age as he is in the now. I was not convinced by this either, even if these parts were maybe Riemelt's best. And yeah, I mentioned the Holocaust references already. In my opinion, this was done to make the film even more dramatically relevant, but it all rang pretty false to me and just included for the sake of it. It's such an important topic that you have to handle it right. And I do not think, this was achieved here. "For the sake of it" is probably the right way to describe it. So yeah, there are some okay moments in this movie, but overall the weak outweighs the strong and that's why I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.