Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
Now you probably wonder what is a Schlager? Well, it's kinda difficult to explain. It's sort of a traditional German-language pop song that usually includes topics like love, longing, change, joy or happiness. You really need to listen to one to understand it. And you will if you watch the film as it features that kind of music. Pretty much all these topics are included in Nico Sommer's newest movie "Silvi". He reunites with Lina Wendel from Solokind and she's the undisputed lead character in this one as a woman who is left by her husband after roughly 30 years of togetherness. And as he comes up quickly with a new partner in her 20s (unclear if that's the reason of the split, but to me it seemed more like a consequence of the dead marriage), Silvi slowly moves back into the dating world as well. As she's never been with another man than her husband, the first steps are very much clumsy as you'd expect from somebody entering unseen territory.As the film progresses, we see her get together with three different men and with each of them you believe early on, he can't be more of a headcase than the last and we get proved wrong every time. Number one is still fairly normal and while he keeps talking and talking about his bus schedule, his previous blind dates and much more, it's funny how, after they had sex, he barks at Silvi that she talks way too much and that's as bothersome as his wife, who he never mentioned before of course. Number two, a Latino/Hispanic, seems pretty charming compared to number one at first, but quickly gets exposed as a cocaine-addicted, sex-addicted sadist. Silvi still agrees to take part in his fantasies if it helps keep her from loneliness, but as she catches him during an SM-session with two prostitutes, it's all over here as well. Finally the last one is a single father to two who drops the L-word after they barely met and treats her quickly as if she was his wife for years, keeps calling her his queen etc. Sadly for Silvi, he quickly proves to be the exact opposite of number 2, a true masochist with an Oedipus complex who wants to be locked up in wardrobes etc. and wants to be her slave not much later. No basis here either.Even if it's occasionally sad, like Silvi's speech about something breaking inside of you when you stay alone too long or the one where her husband brings his new girlfriend right after and it obviously hurts Silvi being exchanged, it's a story that has quite a lot funny parts as well. One would be date number 3 willing to crush the table from his ex-wife immediately after Silvi said something how it's too unstable. That's almost the only scene where he shows a dominating character trait himself and it's way over the top and that's why it's quite funny. The film profits a lot from situational comedy resulting from the interactions between Silvi and all the different people she meets.As the film develops and we see the main character's actions, she becomes more and more likable, not too difficult probably compared to the other people in the film as she's by far the most normal character. It's a good example of how situations can alter the perception of a character when it comes to likability. Early on, I didn't like her at all, especially during the conversation in the car with her husband before he tells her he'll leave her. It was a good display of how screwed their marriage was though. All in all, it's a good movie with some nice depth and good acting from everybody involved. It often has almost the character of a documentary especially during the interview scenes and I'd recommend it.
