"Sonnenallee" is a German 85-minute movie from almost 20 years ago that features some of Germany's biggest rising stars from around that time in Alexander Scheer, Robert Stadlober and Alexander Beyer. They may not be too well-known today anymore, but back then they were. And there are some more established actors on board too, such as Henry Hübchen, Katharina Thalbach and Detlev Buck. It's not really their fault that this film is not working for the most part. There is a touch of "Goodbye Lenin" to it as it depicts life in the GDR of especially younger people, but it's all less refined and does not feel right on many occasions. The writer and director is Leander Haußmann, certainly well-known here in Germany, and I felt at times that he tried to make a mix of stuff like coming-of-age films like "The Breakfast Club", but also included the political context that has been overdone by now in German cinema.
And in terms of the genre, nothing new is delivered by this movie here. I cannot say I enjoyed the watch a lot. It was obviously the filmmaker's intention to make almost all the characters likable, but the actors weren't good on several occasions, especially the younger actors and Stadlober in particular, who just isn't very talented. One of the few good things is that the film is fairly short, but it's still disappointing to see a team of so many writers work on a movie and the result is something as forgettable as "Sonnenallee". I cannot agree with all the awards attention that this film got. Haußmann has done better on several other occasions and it's a bit sad that this is probably his most known work to-date. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.
And in terms of the genre, nothing new is delivered by this movie here. I cannot say I enjoyed the watch a lot. It was obviously the filmmaker's intention to make almost all the characters likable, but the actors weren't good on several occasions, especially the younger actors and Stadlober in particular, who just isn't very talented. One of the few good things is that the film is fairly short, but it's still disappointing to see a team of so many writers work on a movie and the result is something as forgettable as "Sonnenallee". I cannot agree with all the awards attention that this film got. Haußmann has done better on several other occasions and it's a bit sad that this is probably his most known work to-date. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.