"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a German film from almost 20 years ago that was written and directed by Thomas Jahn. It is easily his most known work to this day. It stars Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers and Moritz Bleibtreu, a trio that could be considered the most known actors here in Germany right now. Fittingly, this film here is among the best-known German films too, also abroad. It is not a long movie, only runs for under 90 minutes and that includes a fair share of closing credits already.
The film covers several areas, crime story, comedy, drama, moments of tragedy and how you deal with it etc. Certainly a very versatile film. Still I must say that to me it never really delivered 100% in any of these areas. It was not as touching as I hoped it would be and not as funny either Bleibtreu won a German Film Award for his performance here and I also liked Til Schweiger. Nice to see him get some awards recognition, easily one of his best performances, maybe even his very best. He is not the greatest actor in terms of range, but he frequently makes up for it through charisma. On the downside, this also confirms that Jan Josef Liefers is really not a particularly good actor at all. It sure takes a fair share of mediocrity to be clearly inferior to an actor like Schweiger, but Jan Josef Liefers succeeded. He is another actor who scored through charisma instead of talent and his popularity is absolutely not justified by his range.
Anyway, the story here is probably the most interesting thing. Frequently, it feels extremely absurd, but if you approach this film by seeing it as fiction instead of reality, it can be a good experience. Nothing bad here, but nothing great either. All in all, a decent watch and I recommend it. Many familiar faces from German film in here.
Plot summary
Two young men, Martin Brest (Til Schweiger) and Rudi Wurlitzer (Jan Josef Liefers),both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk, and still in pajamas, they steal the first fancy car they find, a 1960s Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, who immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.
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Decent watch, but nothing outstanding
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - 7/10
2 men who were sentenced to death by their doctors spent their precious remaining time together to experience something they never had chance to do before when they occasionally found a lot of money two stupid gangsters left.
This is a crazy comedy with good entertainment, and because we know the tragical end, so the highly contrast of the hilarious story really make me have a bittersweet feeling which is wonderful.
Their last wish is to see sea with their own eyes, a quite common wish but they never did before. We always think we have a lot of time to do things we want to do, but nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. We never have the courage to do something derailed from our normal track of life, and gradually lost the aim and fun of it, living numbly and waiting to the final destination.
The cast is good and I Love Til Schweiger so much, really a charming role! Moritz Bleibtreu is outstanding as one of the moron gangster too.
I rarely watch Germany comedic films, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is an exception even it might be too crazy for some people, still need a good recommendation.
Who Says the Germans aren't Funny
This is another one of those films that I have seen a while back, and I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't actually written anything about it. Maybe it was because I watched it prior to starting to write reviews on movies, though since I watched it back in the days of the SBS cult movie show, I'm sure I would have been writing about it then. Anyway, this is one of those films that is an absolutely delight, and a right laugh - the fact that it is German just adds to it.
Basically it is about these two guys, both of them in the late stages of incurable diseases, one of them having an inopperable brain tumor, the other having bone cancer. While they are lying in their hospital beds realising that this is the last place they are going to be, they basically say 'stuff it', steal a baby blue Mercedes, that happens to have a million dollars in the back, and go for a cruise to the beach, namely because neither of them have seen the sea. Mind you, Baby Blue Mercedes tend not to just be lying about the place, particularly if there is something like a million dollars in the boot, and if they are, then you probably don't want to get on the wrong side of the people that actually own it.
Yeah, we have a couple of incompetent goons who are supposed to be delivering a package to somebody, but these guys just can't get anything right. So, after knocking a kid off his skate board, they leave the car, unlocked, with the key behind the visor, and take him into the hospital. Oh, and our heroes are wearing nothing but their pyjamas, so because they basically have nothing left to lose, a crime spree is also on the cards, though of course only one of them happens to be a criminal, the other is basically just along for the ride, and the police all think he is a hostage anyway.
Yet there is more to this film that a couple of goof ball crooks, and two guys that are taking advantage of their last few days left on Earth, there is some pretty confronting drama as well. The thing is that these guys are dying, and this isn't hidden away - in fact in many cases it is front and centre. In a way it is also a quest, a quest to get to the sea, because, well, there is just something magical about the sea. Yet it also makes you wonder what one would actually do if you literally had nothing left to lose, therefore no need to abide by those social restraints.
This is actually a pretty bleak movie, but it is also very entertaining - a black comedy if you will. In fact some have suggested that it could almost be considered Germany's Pulp Fiction. Look, personally, I don't think so, though it does come pretty close. However, in many cases it is a film that pretty much stands on its own two feet, and it is also one of those films that you simply could not remake, even if it is to appeal to the English speaking world. In a way it is made in such a way that the skill and artistry of the director pretty much means that nobody ccould build upon what he has already created.