-Slap-
12-18-2005, 05:18 PM
Any foreign film fans on the board?
Schultze Gets the Blues is a very understated, but endearing film. First, the bad news. Its a German film with English subtitles and it has a deliberately slow pace. How slow? Remember the Alexander Payne film, About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson? That movie seems positively frenetic in comparison. I mention About Schmidt because this movie is also about a recent retiree with too much time on his hands. By their very subject matter, films of this type aren't expected to be full of action. Anyway, if you watch this movie and find it boring, you were warned.
I think Schulze Gets the Blues is the type of movie you definitely have to watch on its terms. The pacing is not only slow, but its minimalist in direction, but beautifully photographed.
Even the title character is an understated presence. Schultze, (we never learn his first name), is played by Horst Krause. Forced into early retirement from the mines, he lives alone and hangs around with his friends at the pub. He's round and quiet and content to let his mates do most of the talking. He does seem to have a wry sense of humor about what goes on around him and none of the jokes here are particularly obvious. At least they wouldn't be in the rhythm of a typical movie.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/892/031305schultze5vf.jpg
Schulze's one outlet is playing the accordian at the local music festivals, like his father before him. One evening, Schulze is about to turn in for the night and he hears zydeco music playing on the radio. Captivated by the new sound, he abandons his traditional polkas and begins practicing zydeco tunes. He shows off his new talent at the music festival. Despite the unfavorable reception from the traditional German beerhall crowd, he's selected to go to America to represent them at a music festival in Texas.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4043/schultze1xz.jpg
You might think that the pace of the film would pick up a lot when he gets to America. It does, but not as much as you might expect. Schulze gets cold feet at the festival, but follows his heart down to the Louisiana Delta. He meets up with some kindly people, who take him in for a while. At this point, I expected Schulze to really dive in and embrace the lifestyle. He does, but only briefly before it all kind of overwhelms him. Of course, in an American remake of the film, Schulze would fall in with some famous zydeco band and jam with them on stage at the Juneteenth music festival, or some other such nonsense, but here he never even unlimbers his accordian.
Anyway, I recommend this film, with the reservations detailed above.
Schultze Gets the Blues is a very understated, but endearing film. First, the bad news. Its a German film with English subtitles and it has a deliberately slow pace. How slow? Remember the Alexander Payne film, About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson? That movie seems positively frenetic in comparison. I mention About Schmidt because this movie is also about a recent retiree with too much time on his hands. By their very subject matter, films of this type aren't expected to be full of action. Anyway, if you watch this movie and find it boring, you were warned.
I think Schulze Gets the Blues is the type of movie you definitely have to watch on its terms. The pacing is not only slow, but its minimalist in direction, but beautifully photographed.
Even the title character is an understated presence. Schultze, (we never learn his first name), is played by Horst Krause. Forced into early retirement from the mines, he lives alone and hangs around with his friends at the pub. He's round and quiet and content to let his mates do most of the talking. He does seem to have a wry sense of humor about what goes on around him and none of the jokes here are particularly obvious. At least they wouldn't be in the rhythm of a typical movie.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/892/031305schultze5vf.jpg
Schulze's one outlet is playing the accordian at the local music festivals, like his father before him. One evening, Schulze is about to turn in for the night and he hears zydeco music playing on the radio. Captivated by the new sound, he abandons his traditional polkas and begins practicing zydeco tunes. He shows off his new talent at the music festival. Despite the unfavorable reception from the traditional German beerhall crowd, he's selected to go to America to represent them at a music festival in Texas.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4043/schultze1xz.jpg
You might think that the pace of the film would pick up a lot when he gets to America. It does, but not as much as you might expect. Schulze gets cold feet at the festival, but follows his heart down to the Louisiana Delta. He meets up with some kindly people, who take him in for a while. At this point, I expected Schulze to really dive in and embrace the lifestyle. He does, but only briefly before it all kind of overwhelms him. Of course, in an American remake of the film, Schulze would fall in with some famous zydeco band and jam with them on stage at the Juneteenth music festival, or some other such nonsense, but here he never even unlimbers his accordian.
Anyway, I recommend this film, with the reservations detailed above.