User Reviews

This film, which mostly tells a dramatic story about a mother who gives away her 15-month son Niki to a stranger on a train, and then tries to get it back, is only in some parts (especially those with Paul Hörbiger) a comedy, but mostly a sentimental drama. Tissues recommended.

Yet, I found it a worthwhile watch, if only to get some feeling for 1950s Germany, as reflected in movies. Hörbiger plays his part, from denial to helplessness to sympathy to "ownership" of the baby, very nicely. The change in character of Hardy Krüger's young husband, from selfish bastard to engaged stepfather, is not so well motivated, I find.

All in all, a nicely done piece with some interesting scenes (the church sequence in particular, or the orphanry kids). 7/10.

"Ich heiße Niki" is a German black-and-white movie from 1952. Just realize it's been a while since I saw a black-and-white film the last time. Anyway, these 100 minutes here were directed by Rudolf Jugert and this is still from his early days of filmmaking. He was highly prolific throughout his entire career, even if he never wrote the screenplays for his films. Certainly more prolific than writer Erna Fentsch. She was actually an actress until the end of World War II, but then switched to writing stories and screenplays. Not a bad decision as her effort here was alright overall. As you can see on the poster here on imdb, the big name attached to this project is Paul Hörbiger. In general, this movie for being a West German production has many Austrian cast members, well I should say Austrian/Hungarian. Anyway, maybe another actor who is as known as Hörbiger is Hardy Krüger, who is still alive today and he is in his early 90s now, which is pretty impressive because this film is moving closer to its 70th anniversary. So yes, he was pretty young back then, but nonetheless already an adult. It is probably no coincidence that Krüger and Hörbiger also share the most significant dramatic/emotional scene when the younger one convinces the older one that the child at the center of the story will have a better future with his real parents. Or I should say "real mother". The child is of course Niki, the one that the quote in the title stems from. Well, I must say I am not too big on the title honestly. But it is typical for a film from that era and it is alright. It does not take anything away from the film. However, one thing I do not approve of in terms of the story (or actually several things), is how quickly the characters really change their minds. And simply saying that it is character development is not enough looking at how drastically said changes were. It would have been acceptable for one character, but not for three. I just cannot let them get away with that. First of all, Aglaja Schmid's character (the female lead) had firmly made up her mind that she will give her son to somebody else in order to be with her boyfriend because he would not accept her with this child. Not much later, she realizes that she does not want to give up on her son and does not enter the ship to America. Said boyfriend (Krüger) seems to be indeed the way his partner thinks and when he finds out about the truth, he is really mad and acts as if there is no future for those two (let alone three) and in the end he even convinces the male protagonist to hand them the child, tries to steal it before. Too much of a change in character for me. And finally, Paul Hörbiger's character a dedicated bachelor who is really happy that he does not have to take care of anything or anybody else except his dog. But when he ends up with the young kid, he quickly develops paternal feelings and everything changes. He even gets together with a female and they take care of the kid together from that moment on. It is all a bit much in terms of how the characters change.

But it is also interesting how this film is really from an entirely different time. Just think of the idea today to leave your kid with a stranger when you are on a train, even if it is a stranger, who seems to be a good match. Is he even? It's not important. Or the idea that you'd rather give your kid away then tell your partner that you have a child. Or looking at the other side that the people who get the child really 100% intend to keep the boy, even provide their dog with a different color so that they can't be identified this easily. Aside from that, I felt that Hörbiger's character the way he was presented when the two met on the train would just have given the child away quickly after getting it. But his heart (and him discovering it) is at the core of this story. Now what I actually wanted to say is that society and reputation sure were entirely different back then. Today, probably no mother would even give their kid away of their partner told her to and says that if she does not, then he will be gone. So in teh face of people constantly whining about lack of equality for females, we should take a look at how things have changed since the 1950s. Okay, I don't want to turn this into a history lesson, but I felt this needed to be said. So until now, I have been a bit critical about this movie in the negative sense, but there are also many positive moments and inclusions, even if I think that it could have been kept down to 90 minutes because there were some scenes that dragged a bit. It's alright though. The emotional and dramatic parts are not as good as they could have been, but still good enough I'd say. Also you don't see too often that a German early 50s film (that is not a Heimatfilm or musical) really deals zero with (the aftermath of) World War II. So what I liked about this film is mostly Hörbiger's turn. He is really good and the lighter moments with him are sometimes extremely entertaining. I am for example talking about the scene when he is completely helpless when another character helps him changing the kid's diapers and he shows signs of surprise by what he says and how he says it that it needs to be done again soon. Or how he says that it is a girl because of the hair. And so on. There are more moments. Another moment I also found funny, even if it was slightly dramatic, is wheh he pulls the emergency brake on the train and the conductor arrives quickly and says that it is only for emergencies and that he overreacted. But this scene also shows already that while he is emotionally distant, he does not have a heart of stone. One more dramatic moment and maybe the most touching moment for me is the very last shot when we see him walk away with his dog as he has given up on the kid at that point and is back to where he was at the beginning of the film. Or at least in terms of who is by his side. Or is he really? Perhaps he found out a lot about himself on the way there and has become a better person. I still thought it as sad because the character is really likable. So yeah, I would say that Hörbiger is the one who keeps the movie together and turns it into a decent watch for me. I have seen some other stuff from him, but this one here is a contender for being my most favorite film. At least my most favorite performance from what I have seen from him so far. Kinda shocking that his relative (niece?) is so limited and has played in so many really weak films over the years. She does not seem to have 1% of his talent. Okay, but that is another story. As for " My Name Is Niki", it's a thumbs-up for me and I think that you can check it out unless you really dislike European black-and-white films. Also nice brief inclusion of "Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus". That's all. Go for it.