Germany, and Munich in particular, has always been a city that I yearn for.
It is said that living there, you don't even have to learn German. The openness of the local people to peoples of all ethnic groups has long since broken down the barriers between languages and cultures. So even if you don't know each other and have different skin tones, jumping in the pub with the electric sound for one night can make people instantly feel like siblings.
That is why Germany is a country where many refugees seek asylum. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and the ideal city-state gradually collapsed under the stimulation of several vicious events. Since 2016, Germany has begun to repatriate refugees, and the means have gradually evolved from the initial "voluntary" to the tough visa refusal and charter flight return.
Helping others is not a problem, and even Germans who advocate the repatriation of refugees will feel sorry for the boys who died on the beach. However, once social stability and a crime rate that cannot be ignored, whether to accept refugees becomes a non-problem.
Welcome to the Hartmann family
Welcome to the Hartmanns
2016
Director & Writer: Simon Verhoeven
Starring: Senta Berger / Heiner Lauterbach
Parina Roczynski / Elias Mubarik
Bean cloves: 7.2/10
5th German Film Festival
The four cities of this film are scheduled
Welcome to the Hartmanns is a film about refugees, but it's not heavy, but it's a lighthearted comedy with a little German humor.
At the heart of the story is a typical Middle-Class German family, the Hartmanns. Its members include a couple who are just in time for retirement age, two troubled children, and a troubled little grandchild.
The wife of the old couple, Angelica, was a former teacher and held the highest position of principal. The sudden arrival of retirement slowed the pace of her life and allowed her to escape into an emptiness where meaning could not be found.
Angelica and Richard
Her husband, Richard, is a highly qualified orthopedic surgeon. Also facing retirement, he is not willing to enter the old age of idleness.
The couple's son, Philippe, seems to be a successful man, mixed with the financial elite, working as a lawyer. However, in the busy work, he gradually drifted away from his family, not only divorced his wife, but also had no time to take care of the children.
Philip was with his son and father
And Philip's son, Basti, was fascinated by hip-hop rap at a young age and formed a group with his friends to make music. They vainly want to make a MV full of "hip-hop culture", this kind of superficial rebellion, but actually just to win their father's approval.
Finally, Philip's sister, Sophie, in her early thirties, was the most troubled.
She has changed several majors and has not graduated for various reasons. What's worse is that when her studies are not going well, Sophie's love situation is also not ideal. On her face, you seem to be able to see the mark of "embarrassment, embarrassment" at a glance.
Sophie and her brother Philip
These are all members of our Dream House. They have no worries about food and clothing, but they have their own troubles. The stability of life has not been able to regulate the contradictions between people.
Moreover, internal troubles remain unresolved, and a new external problem disrupts the lives of the Hartmans – Anjelica, despite the government's backlash, took in a bereaved Nigerian refugee, Diallo.
Angelica takes Diallo to the supermarket
As soon as the language-speaking Diallo appeared, it intensified the hidden internal contradictions of the Hartman family. At the same time, Diallo himself, who has been "helped", has to deal with the vigilance of others and the completely unfamiliar cultural environment.
The reason why the director wants to discuss the refugee problem in a comedic way may be to help the audience digest these originally heavy problems. The plot gradually develops under the witty dialogue, and even if it has experienced a crisis, it can always be resolved by laughter and move towards a happy ending.
However, this optimism seems to be somewhat wishful thinking.
The Hartmann family is the real protagonist of the film, and the refugees are just foils
Looking back at the film poster, although the refugee Diallo is in the center, the name of the corresponding actor is not mentioned much. In addition, the focus of the film is also on the Hartman family, and Diallo often plays only a slightly functional supporting role.
This raises some questions worth pondering.
If the director's portrayal of refugees really represents the impression of refugees in most Germans, then it seems not surprising that the government is moving to repatriate refugees. I don't think the vast majority of refugees can be like Diallo, an old good person who constantly solves the problems of others.
Diallo and Sophie
Diallo is harmless to humans and animals, and the concept comes with a kind of "simplicity" from the Third World. In the film, he is always helping the Hartman family, either to help Sophie find true love, or to help Angelica and Richard reconcile.
Think about it, after watching the movie, what can we say about Diallo as a person?
His background was blurry, his problems were downplayed, he didn't have any illegible labels, and he fell into a mysterious state of chaos. Since the audience sees such a Diallo through the Hartman family, it is conceivable that the so-called acceptance of the Harts did not help them really get closer to this body.
Director Simon Van Hoewen said his expectation for the comedy film was to present the refugee problem in a simpler tone. He feels that the current society has provided enough pressure, and his films should be harmonious and help everyone entertain themselves.
So, the Hartmanns did not spend ink and ink to create a negative side, just to focus on the current state of Germany and the mental state of the Germans?
I don't know if you can accept his ideas, but we may not be able to ask too much for a comedy without ambition.
Joy is good
In fact, if you forget the film's refugee gimmick, then the Hartmann family's presentation of German life is quite real, and it also expresses the pluralism in German society. Examples include the conservative Christian style of the neighbors, the machismo of the driver who has a crush on Sophie, the reason why Basti is obsessed with hip-hop rap, and Philippe's interest in learning Chinese.
Taking a step back, perhaps the small details of these supporting characters are the real shining point of the film, and the refugee problem is gently lowered, probably because the director, like many Germans, does not take this as a problem at all.
The refugees who remained in Germany may have been as unblocked as Diallo
Interestingly, last year Norway also released a black comedy called Welcome to Norway. The media inevitably has to make a comparison between the two films.
Both look at things from a European perspective and have a one-sided tendency. And whether it is for the sake of irony or the pursuit of objectivity, both films simplify and relax the events, so that the audience can't help but sigh, "It turns out that all this is not as bad as imagined."
Of course, you can also say that this is a kind of self-anesthesia, or an escape from reality, but the film's high popularity and high box office in Germany show that at least Germans like such a film and feel that it can represent the society in which they live. Moreover, they did not refuse to accept any refugee-related information because of the resolution on the repatriation of refugees.
In short, a light comedy like Welcome to the Hartmans, while not necessarily leading to much social reflection, is a guide that is not bad. The film's focus on personal issues also makes it enough to cross borders and come to China, where there is no refugee problem, helping us to derive richer thinking.
After all, the issue of outsiders and cultural conflicts is far from foreign to our multi-ethnic country.