"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a German film from almost 20 years ago that was written and directed by Thomas Jahn. It is easily his most known work to this day. It stars Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers and Moritz Bleibtreu, a trio that could be considered the most known actors here in Germany right now. Fittingly, this film here is among the best-known German films too, also abroad. It is not a long movie, only runs for under 90 minutes and that includes a fair share of closing credits already.
The film covers several areas, crime story, comedy, drama, moments of tragedy and how you deal with it etc. Certainly a very versatile film. Still I must say that to me it never really delivered 100% in any of these areas. It was not as touching as I hoped it would be and not as funny either Bleibtreu won a German Film Award for his performance here and I also liked Til Schweiger. Nice to see him get some awards recognition, easily one of his best performances, maybe even his very best. He is not the greatest actor in terms of range, but he frequently makes up for it through charisma. On the downside, this also confirms that Jan Josef Liefers is really not a particularly good actor at all. It sure takes a fair share of mediocrity to be clearly inferior to an actor like Schweiger, but Jan Josef Liefers succeeded. He is another actor who scored through charisma instead of talent and his popularity is absolutely not justified by his range.
Anyway, the story here is probably the most interesting thing. Frequently, it feels extremely absurd, but if you approach this film by seeing it as fiction instead of reality, it can be a good experience. Nothing bad here, but nothing great either. All in all, a decent watch and I recommend it. Many familiar faces from German film in here.
The film covers several areas, crime story, comedy, drama, moments of tragedy and how you deal with it etc. Certainly a very versatile film. Still I must say that to me it never really delivered 100% in any of these areas. It was not as touching as I hoped it would be and not as funny either Bleibtreu won a German Film Award for his performance here and I also liked Til Schweiger. Nice to see him get some awards recognition, easily one of his best performances, maybe even his very best. He is not the greatest actor in terms of range, but he frequently makes up for it through charisma. On the downside, this also confirms that Jan Josef Liefers is really not a particularly good actor at all. It sure takes a fair share of mediocrity to be clearly inferior to an actor like Schweiger, but Jan Josef Liefers succeeded. He is another actor who scored through charisma instead of talent and his popularity is absolutely not justified by his range.
Anyway, the story here is probably the most interesting thing. Frequently, it feels extremely absurd, but if you approach this film by seeing it as fiction instead of reality, it can be a good experience. Nothing bad here, but nothing great either. All in all, a decent watch and I recommend it. Many familiar faces from German film in here.