The days of great comedies seem to be over. Nowadays you can be happy if the respective cinema year even has a really funny representative of the genre in store. From this point of view, a real surprise for me was “Die Goldfische” by Alireza Golafshan, which celebrates its free TV premiere on Sat.1 this Monday, January 10 at 8:15 p.m. Here you can not only laugh heartily, but also get a story that goes to your heart with its joie de vivre.
» "The Goldfish" at Amazon*
That's what "The Goldfish" is aboutBefore I go any further into the film, here is the synopsis: Oliver (Tom Schilling) is a passionate banker and portfolio manager. He leads his life in the fast lane until one day, through his own fault, he crashes into a crash barrier at 230 km/h. When he wakes up in the hospital, he is confronted with a devastating diagnosis: he is paraplegic. A rehab stay in the hospital of several months is actually planned, but Oliver soon falls over his head and so he ends up in a shared flat for people with disabilities, which bears the name "The Goldfish".
Here he meets, among others, Magda (Birgit Minichmayr), who is blind, the autistic Rainman (Axel Stein) and Franzi (Luisa Wöllisch), a girl with Down syndrome. They are looked after by the idealistic Laura (Jella Hasse, "Fack Ju Göhte"), who found her dream job here as a remedial teacher, while Eddy (Kida Khodr Ramadan, "4 Blocks") hates his work as a curative education nurse. When the group takes a trip to Switzerland, Oliver joins them in order to get the black money he has stashed away there...
Die Goldfische Trailer DFA highlight in the tradition of "Mad About Mary"
What got me so excited about "The Goldfish" is Alireza Golafshan's lack of interest in telling the film as an adapted morality or didactic play. As soon as workaholic Oliver has arrived in the shared flat, the film unleashes a pace in which a surprisingly high gag density and hit rate keep the viewers in a good mood. It brings back memories of a real comedy classic from the 1990s.
Because if you like, "The Goldfish" is a little brother of "Mad about Mary". Like Peter and Bobby Farrelly before him, Alireza Golafshan also has the courage not to treat his fate-stricken protagonists with kid gloves, but demonstrates a relaxed, lifelike handling of clichés and prejudices. In the course of this, Luisa Wöllisch in particular reveals a wonderful sense of self-mockery.
New in home cinema: One of the cinema highlights of 2021 - only two films were even better!When jokes are made here about people with disabilities, it is never at the expense of them. Instead, in “The Goldfish” everyone laughs together, because Golafshan throws it out in all directions and looks at all the actors on one level. The warm and cheeky way that the film gains from this doesn't care about political correctness and thus gives the protagonists the space to develop themselves instead of constantly telling the viewers that everything is meant really well here is.
The comedy, in which the creators are nevertheless visibly concerned with people, does not need such bold concessions. In addition, of course, the great actors are partly responsible for the success of "The Goldfish". It doesn't matter whether it's Tom Schilling, Jella Hase or Kida Khodr Ramadan - they all show a disarming joy of playing, which guarantees the best entertainment with the heart in the right place.
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