Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kaspar" is a German film from 2008, so it will soon have its 10th anniversary. The director is successful German filmmaker Joseph Vilsmaier and the script comes from Klaus Richter who adapted the work by Kurt Wilhelm, the screenplay writer from the 1970s version of this film. The twp most known actors of the cast here are lead actor Franz-Xaver Kroetz and Michael "Bully" Herbig who actually plays the Grim Reaper in here, but a somewhat funny version of it as usual with Bully. Kroetz and Herbig are also the only reasons to see this film here I guess that runs for slightly over 90 minutes. They have decent chemistry together and the scenes when they share the screen are the best this film has to offer. All the human supporting characters are mostly uninteresting in my opinion and don't really add a whole lot to the story.In the second half this film about a man who tricked Death becomes slightly supernatural as we see Death's workplace and his colleagues, so you could maybe also call it a fantasy film. I may be a bit biased as I have never been a huge Vilsmaier fan, but he also could not win me over with this more recent work. There are a couple good moments like the scenes with the protagonists I mentioned earlier and Knaup is nice to watch as always, this time in a fairly unusual role. But I must say I would not have missed anything really if this film had ended as a fairly long short film after the scene when he tricked Death and went out laughing and singing. But it did not and the result were quite a few scenes that dragged and I as the viewer was bored. It may also help if you get subtitles, even as a German, as the Bavarian accents (as always with Vilsmaier) are pretty heavy and frequent. I give this fairly new "Brandner Kasper" version a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
Stefan Willa
"Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kaspar" is another film adaption of a traditional Bavarian story rooted in the 19th century. It deals with very serious matters, such as intrigues, envy, murder, and loss of beloved family members. On the other hand it also includes love, forgiveness, and the knowledge that the little problems on earth do not really matter in the end. This is where the movie shows has its strength too. Bully Herbig achieves to impersonate death as belonging to human life, and therefore being very human. By the comic relief of his acting the movie connects depth and entertainment in a very palatable combination.In my opinion this is one of the better German movies of the last ten years, and definitely worth watching. Even more so as it is set in a beautiful panoramic landscape: in the Bavarian mountains.
t_atzmueller
„Der Brandner Kaspar und das ewig' Leben" is both a classic and a cult movie in Bavaria, shown religiously every during All Saint's Day. The tale of a poacher who achieves 20 years of extra life by making Death drunk and then cheating him over a game of cards. However, Kaspar has gained more than he bargained for, having to witness the death of his loved ones while bringing disarray into the heavenly bureaucracy by cheating the Grim Reaper. Eventually he's tricked into visiting heaven, where he decides to stay, since there's no Prussians in heaven but no end to the white sausages and beer.As a Bavarian, I don't only consider a remake in itself a slap in the face but more so, the fact that Bully Herbig was cast in one of the centre roles, blasphemous. See, like many Bavarians I'm not fond of Herbig or his type of slapstick-humour, often referred to as "Grimassenschneiderei" (or grimacing). Pulling faces, jumping around spastically and speaking in squeaky voices isn't everybody's mug of beer when it comes to comedy. The pinnacle of the original Brandner Kaspar was the role of Death (in Bavaria lovingly referred to as "Boandlkramer" or Bone-Dealer), originally played by actor Toni Berger with great humour but also a great deal of humanity. Very little of this is left in the interpretation of Herbig, and what is left has been copied one-on-one from Bergers performance.Acting-wise, the film has two highlights: for one, the performance of Franz-Xaver Kroetz, whom many Bavarian viewers will fondly remember as "Baby Schimmerlos" in the cult-series "Kir Royal". Kroetz cannot help but embody the typical Bavarian (or, as the Bavarian will tend to see himself). The second spark in the darkness is actor Jörg Hube, likewise a veteran of Bavarian-TV, who sadly passed away shortly after completing this film.If the story intrigues you or if you're interested in Bavarian folktales and folklore, I can only recommend the Original from 1975. The remake I cannot recommend for anybody just alone on the grounds that Herbigs performance is obnoxious, to say the least. I'm tempted to think that he may be a Prussian who mimics the Bavarian accent.
