BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

vogelx The movie gets everything. An amazing story, a sympathetically main character and surprising plots and of course funny dialogues. Good pictures and very good (really special) music. But no question Horst Krause is the Deal here. Its Not Easy to imagine another actor than him. He looks and acts so typical boring German from a small village like no other actor in Germany i know. But with a heart of gold. Like a big fat buddha.Somebody will find the story a Little Bit cheesy. Not for me. Its the story from a normal very quite people with dreams and hopes deep inside him. And only the "destiny" gives him the chance to get his "inside"-dreams alive. Lovely. Isn it? Sometimes WE with it will hit us too:)

pefrss I just picked up this movie in a video store. I had never heard of it and I do not think it was shown in the movie theaters where I live. Born in Germany, I always enjoy movies which portray the everyday man or woman - them - being Germans and American - colliding , last one which comes to mind was Baghdad Cafe, which was also delightful .The style of showing life and using the camera reminded me a little bit of Fassbinder movies and I very much appreciated the realistic approach. A very convincing debut. After having lived for over a quarter of a century in the States and longer than that in Germany, I usually get very frustrated watching Hollywood movies. Locations, I have been to,are made to look so glamorous that I do not recognize them any more and the same is true for actresses and actors. Everything has a tendency to be larger and more beautiful, more impressive than life. The story line is most of the time as far removed from reality as Oprah and her average viewer have nothing in common.These Hollywood movies leave me with a bitter aftertaste. Why is my life not so glamorous and why does my house, my street , my city looks so ordinary and is fraying at the edges.? "Schultze gets the blues" beautifies nothing. In the German part: A depressing little town in a depressed area of former East Germany. Though there are some attractive spots to be found too and the camera knows how to capture them. Three friends being forced into early retirement. Life in early retirement boring and very predictable. But there are good things too. Friendships, community events, the joys of a little Schrebergarten (weekend garden house) and discovering something new, like music and food from the South of the U.S.. Schultze discovers Cajun music by accident and tries to save enough money to travel to Louisiana. By a stroke of luck he wins a trip to New Braunsfeld in Texas, where he is confronted with an expatriated version of Germans, he nor I can relate to. He escapes on an adventure transporting him into the swamps of Louisiana and happens to encounter only positive experiences. He speaks not one word of English and consequently is not really able to communicate. Like in Baghdad Cafe the America shown is not glamorous, but for that reason attractive to the German visitor. There is nothing intimidating or super-power-like in a houseboat with a picket fenced roof top garden. The beach houses in Louisiana may be prime real estate, but the film shows them as not particularly attractive looking ,probably because it is out of season and the area is deserted.. Everything in the movie feels right. As I learned from the DVD, all locations were original and were not changed by the film crew. Not in Germany nor in the States. Many people participating in this film were the actual owners or employees or guests of the bar, dance hall, concert hall or retirement home. In both countries we get a realistic view of things retired people do.For me there were a bunch of comic situations in the film like Schultze entering the Jacuzzi in a tiny speedo barely visible due to his impressive corpulence. After living so long in the States, it is difficult to remember that huge bathing shorts are not worn in Germany and all men wear speedos. The German crowd in New Braunsfels dressed up in Bavarian outfits, though I am sure that only a fraction of them originally originated from this area in Germany. But somehow the personification of a German in America is a Bavarian, while in Germany you would never find a German from another region dressing up in this style. The cooking radio show which gave you time to go shopping for the ingredients and then continued the instructions. The shots in the Bayous were absolutely beautiful. The choice of bars and dance halls was superb. The acting flawless. By using so many amateurs and only original locations the film feels completely authentic. There was barely a scene in this movie which I had not experienced myself in one way or the other in either country.The only little thing which was a little bit over the top for me was the New Orleans style funeral in Germany and the fact that the houseboat lady and her daughter attended it. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and did not think it being slow for one second.P.S. In the English subtitles it says that the people consider the zydeco music as "nigger music". That is not correct. Neger in German means negro and is not used in a diparaging way. For these people it is just something unfamiliar. The word is used in the German language like black here.

fleeding As one who just recently (if we can call 2002 "recently" in these post-9/11 era), who was "right-sized"; ie, laid off at the age of 50, and thus deemed by society at large as obsolete....This is a perfect example of what i would call a perfect art film. (Similarly as with "Koyaanisqatsi" (with music by Philip Glass), as one reviewer put it "some people just won't get it").For me it is a perfect example of the "new world order" which in turn describes what is happening as we create the even-more-marginalised fourth, fifth and sixth world countries, etc.Ostensibly it is about a miner who is given "early retirement" and finds so much time on his hands that he is quite apparently (as well as his friends) wasting away -- so wonderfully underscoring Hemingway's comment that "most people live lives of quiet desperation".It is beautiful in its almost minimalist use of imagery and sound. If anything can save Schulte, it is music! -- beauty! beauty squared!'Frank.

nolarobert I rented this film because of its connection to Louisiana. The acting is absolutely superb in this German movie about a man who retires and finds his passion for life has gone until he discovers Zydeco music. This is not the typical Hollywood tale but rather a very foreign, in this case German, look at how a person deals with the end of their life. I watched this film after Hurricane Katrina, so it was good to see some of the old local landmarks like the Rock'N Bowl being used as a location. The storyline had me hooked from the very start as Schultze and his friends drew me into their world and everyday mundane lives and following Schultze's evolution. This is a story that resonates for all of us as we must one day face the question of existence like Schultze's character did and I hope I do it as well as he did by seizing the day. If you enjoy a good old-fashioned story that doesn't rely on juvenile humor, huge explosions or gee whiz special effects, then go rent this movie today.