Der Vorname

Really enjoyed it. It has a brilliant menu of fun for a perfect movienight you won't forget!!

I found this movie on DVD at my public library.

As a foreign movie is should be a good fit for me. I studied 2+ years of German in college, including German literature. This is a German movie, in German, with English subtitles. I could understand much of the dialog.

It is a straightforward premise - a progressive young man and his girlfriend are going to have a baby boy and at a family gathering everyone wants to know what the baby's name will be. They try to guess and even when told it starts with 'A' no one guesses 'Adolf'. Of course when that becomes known everyone else is upset, it is too close a reminder of the infamous Adolf Hitler.

I would guess, from reading a few reviews, that Germans and perhaps Europeans in general find this to be a really good, entertaining movie. But I don't, it is a lot of talking about a political subject and this is just not the kind of movie I enjoy.

Never thought about to use this headline for a review but it fits absolutely perfect to the plot. And yeah, this was one of the funniest german movies i've ever seen so far.

Think about a usual family dinner with friends, cozy small talk, good dinner and some glasses of whine in relaxed atmosphere. At some point one couple offers the name of their unborn child and it's "ADOLF". Now everybody in the room is triggered, exactly like you. You can feel the moment, when the whole mood in the room is going to a complete different direction. Everything's getting a bit more aggressive but also funnier with every minute.

But no worries, this is not the complete plot, it was only the warm-up. Be prepared and listen carefully. This kind of comedy is all about the dialogues and i loved it.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Fletcher

Witty, funny provoking - I absolutely loved this movie from the first to the last scene. I believe I've seen something similar in an Italian context, but the German version was so much better, more nuanced, more subtle and more to my taste. Although the entire movie takes place within a house and involves basically only five people, it never gets boring. The dialogue is very brisk and engaging, the acting is excellent. The topics the film raises, are interesting and are dealt in a clever and genuine manner - the choice of a child's name, the shadow Hitler still throws over German political and everyday life, the hypocrisy of feminist husbands and the difficult choices women make between career and child rearing, etc. All these difficult questions are examined without preaching, with tact, a sense of humor and empathy. Wholeheartedly recommend this movie and would be happy to find other German films of such quality.

The first temptation is to define it as provocative. For situations, humor, dialogue, clash between characters and adorable end. But it is more. It is a realistic - precise portrait of contemporary family. Eccentric ideas, secrets far to be comfortable, couple huge problems, wives and husbands - and a mother in not ordinary situation- , love and hate in large portions. A nice comedy for its smart levels.