User Reviews

Like "Schwarzfahrer", this is a small yet compelling short that works as sort of an extended joke, where the drama of most of the movie leads up to a funny denouement.

Two young men get on a train, trying hard to hide the fact that they're smuggling coffee into East Germany (oops, by the way, this is set during the division of Germany into East and West). They try a little two hard, arousing suspicions, but they soon don't have to worry so much about it as a kindly old woman sitting across from them confesses that she, too, is smuggling some coffee for her son's birthday. Things become dramatic, however, when a police officer comes and the grouchy old man sitting next to the woman tells her out, causing the officer to confiscate her son's coffee. All is not bad, however, when at the end of the ride he makes it up to her... he had a whole suitcase full of coffee, and he gives her three bags in payment for her one.

"Dufte" means "scent" in German, and most of the sparse dialog and humorous moments revolve around the strong scent of coffee (if Smell-O-Vision ever took off, this would be a classic). It's a relatively simple and straightforward narrative, which is refreshing, though it's pretty predictable. Still, I think one of the funniest parts actually occurs during the credits, when it shows all of the characters involved enjoying a nice cup'o'joe. You can't keep a good thing down, I guess.

--PolarisDiB

I have to say this 10-minute German short film needed a couple minutes to get going and catch my interest. But when it did, I couldn't look away. The action takes place in a train that travels from West to East Germany and we watch two young guys, an old man and an old woman. Back then, it was prohibited to import coffee to the GDR. The old woman does so and after the old man tells the train personnel, her coffee is taken away immediately. The young men suspect he may be working for the Stasi. But then, before he leaves the train , he takes down his suitcase and we see it's full with coffee himself. He gives the woman a package and leaves. Now we know, he only told the conductor to keep him from looking inside his suitcase.

Very funny little short film at the ending. The two young men do not really have a purpose in my opinion, but it's fine. At the beginning, it says that this movie is based on real occurrences which makes it even more worth a watch. Admittedly, it#s really only worth a watch for the ending and could have been 5 minutes too without losing the heart of the movie, but it's all good. Writer and director did a decent job here 10 years ago (it was his 3rd movie and he was roughly 30 years old) and it's nice to see him still shooting films today. Recommended. Oh yeah and if you know a German native speaker ask him what the title of this film means. Clever play on words too.