Three idiots escape from an excursion into the 'summer holidays' and experience hair-raising adventures. The mood of this amazing movie is changing from the calmness of a typical summer day to strong humour. But it is just funny when Fischer observes everything with his magnifying glass. Although sometimes too strong it is a nice and silent movie. Unfortunately this film reveals in it's full beauty if one is able to understand the austrian or bavarian dialect but if you do and love austrian-bavarian way of life you will not be disappointed!
4 Reviews
Seamless
KWiNK3 August 2005
I didn't understand half of this movie, due to the strong dialects of most of the people. But what I got, I loved.
The whole beauty of this film is, how all of it seems to come together seamlessly. The various plot elements just flow together, nearly every gag looks as though it absolutely belongs there. Admittedly, sometimes something gets out of line and there are things that just don't fit in with the rest of the movie, but the way this one just keeps moving until it does reach its destination (or does it?) all just remind you what good writing is all about.
Of course, the story brings Howard Zieff's "The Dream Team" (1989) to mind immediately, and probably that movie was a major inspiration for this one. But the whole point here is, that the titular "Three Gentlemen" do not get stranded in a big city but in a small, isolated village, that they don't strive to recover their lost custodian but don't have any mission at all. They are just stranded and it's the narrow-minded, sometimes uncanny villagers who change their lives as much as they change theirs. And, as almost always with these pictures, we get a clear picture of who should *really* be locked away in an asylum and who not. And there are not-so-hidden statements about wonders and those who either see or ignore them.
Watch it for pure delight.
The whole beauty of this film is, how all of it seems to come together seamlessly. The various plot elements just flow together, nearly every gag looks as though it absolutely belongs there. Admittedly, sometimes something gets out of line and there are things that just don't fit in with the rest of the movie, but the way this one just keeps moving until it does reach its destination (or does it?) all just remind you what good writing is all about.
Of course, the story brings Howard Zieff's "The Dream Team" (1989) to mind immediately, and probably that movie was a major inspiration for this one. But the whole point here is, that the titular "Three Gentlemen" do not get stranded in a big city but in a small, isolated village, that they don't strive to recover their lost custodian but don't have any mission at all. They are just stranded and it's the narrow-minded, sometimes uncanny villagers who change their lives as much as they change theirs. And, as almost always with these pictures, we get a clear picture of who should *really* be locked away in an asylum and who not. And there are not-so-hidden statements about wonders and those who either see or ignore them.
Watch it for pure delight.
Great and very enjoyable movie!
equiinferno13 September 2005
In case you are German/Austrian you've got to see this movie. Its just hilarious and at the same time very touching.
I just love the scene when the town people, carrying the coffin, must cross the main street to get to the funeral...
The three main actors do a great job. The main characters never understand that they themselves are the numb nuts everyone in town including the police is searching for - even more than that: they really try to assist the search...for...for themselves ;)
Nobody knows this movie - and its a true shame! I guess it was never really promoted! But I hereby claim: Watch it!
I just love the scene when the town people, carrying the coffin, must cross the main street to get to the funeral...
The three main actors do a great job. The main characters never understand that they themselves are the numb nuts everyone in town including the police is searching for - even more than that: they really try to assist the search...for...for themselves ;)
Nobody knows this movie - and its a true shame! I guess it was never really promoted! But I hereby claim: Watch it!
Likable lead trio, but nothing beyond that
Horst_In_Translation19 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Drei Herren", which means basically "Three Gentlemen" is an Austrian 1.5-hour film from 1998, so this one will have its 20th anniversary next year. It is an early, but not very early, career effort by director Nikolaus Leytner and he also was the man in charge of the script here. he worked with the late BAFTA-nominee Max Linder on this one. The first-billed cast member here is Karl Merkatz (reminded me of Didi Hallervorden on more than one occasion) and people outside Austria may wonder who that is, but even if he never really became well-known abroad, not even here in Germany, he is a huge star in Austria, even until this day and he turns 87 this year already. But his co-lead Karl Markovics is more known to most. This is because this film here was made briefly after his trademark role as Stockinger on Kommissar Rex, but then there was also stuff like the Oscar-winning "Die Fälscher" where he plays the main character. And last but not least, we have Ottfried Fischer, the only non-Austrian from the trio and perhaps this is also why he is probably the best-known here in Germany, even if his popularity has been sinking for a long time as well as he is not really anymore in prestigious projects. But he is memorable enough for his big physicality alone.
Now these three made me kinda curious about the film, but while I liked their performances to an extent, I must say I was quite disappointed with the rest of it. There is an entertaining (maybe even funny) scene here and there, but I felt for a 90-minute movie the quality comedy wasn't enough either. And the more dramatic/emotional moments like the big fire towards the end added almost nothing for me. It's really all about the comedy in here. The film is perhaps struggling because it tries to stick to old patterns for way too long. The scenes with the struggling driver are somewhat funny, but at some point the constant coughing really stops being entertaining and just gets repetitive. Same goes for everything involving Fischer's character. Merkatz' character's story line feels all over the place and Markovics' may be more focuses, but is also only slightly better. Really sucks because the actors easily could have carried a real quality movie here. But this is no such thing. I have to give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
Now these three made me kinda curious about the film, but while I liked their performances to an extent, I must say I was quite disappointed with the rest of it. There is an entertaining (maybe even funny) scene here and there, but I felt for a 90-minute movie the quality comedy wasn't enough either. And the more dramatic/emotional moments like the big fire towards the end added almost nothing for me. It's really all about the comedy in here. The film is perhaps struggling because it tries to stick to old patterns for way too long. The scenes with the struggling driver are somewhat funny, but at some point the constant coughing really stops being entertaining and just gets repetitive. Same goes for everything involving Fischer's character. Merkatz' character's story line feels all over the place and Markovics' may be more focuses, but is also only slightly better. Really sucks because the actors easily could have carried a real quality movie here. But this is no such thing. I have to give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
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