Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Fleisch ist mein Gemüse" or "Fleisch ist mein Gemüse: Eine Landjugend mit Musik" or "Krauts, Doubts & Rock 'n' Roll" or "Meat Is My Vegetables" (the literal translation) is a German 95-minute live action film from 2008, so this one will have its 10th anniversary next year. It is most likely the most known film by writer and director Christian Görlitz, a highly prolific television filmmaker, and this is also because apparently still his only theatrical release. He adapted the original literary work by Heinz Strunk here, who can also be seen in this film and who recently also entered lead actor territory. But we talked about that one already. Back to this one here. The title I am not a great fan of I must admit and same can be said about lead actor Maxim Mehmet who left me relatively unimpressed once again. The supporting cast is better. Schmidt (rip) is really brilliant and plays the by far most interesting character here. Certainly deserving of his German Film Award as he gives one hell of a dazzler performance. Lothar is fine too. The one big disappointment is Anna Fischer again and before she got more screen time, I was tempted to give this film a better rating. Playing a loud and extroverted character does not mean you can go painfully ham and over the top in every scene you are in, but admittedly she did that in every film I saw her in and it says a lot that she pretty much plays the same character in all these movies. The likability aspect to her roles has vanished a long time ago as far as I am concerned.Back to the film itself, this is the story of a man trying to become a famous song writer or/and musician, but while he ends up in an uninspired party band, he also has to deal with all kinds of personal matters, especially the complicated relationships with the women in his life, neighbor and mother. And deal with heavy acne at the same time. It certainly is something you could call an every day story really, but while it tries to feel authentic in that department, it struggles with realism on more than just one occasion. As a whole, I would say that the negative here is more frequent than the positive and Schmidt's performance alone is not enough for me to give this film a thumbs-up, even if the film has some other strong moments too at times. I have not read Strunk's novel, so no idea if the problem is the base material already or the adaptation, but as for the film itself I must say that I do not recommend the watch overall. Might wanna go for something else instead.
