An unusual sex comedy which tries to be quirky and succeeds in being weird. A female reporter in desperate search for a new story is following Postman Max Sparwein to come up with a "Postman Report", yet another addition to Germany's o-so-plentiful sex reports. These had featured postmen before but this movie is probably (and thankfully) the only film to put them at the centre of the story.
The first indication that we are in trouble arrives before the film starts (in the credits), because this is one of those sex films in which the director had put himself into the lead - such efforts frequently manage to out-vain Barbra Streisand (just have a look at the films of Jean-Marie Pallardy or Günter Hendel), and this is no mean achievement. Fortunately, Gerhard Hartig didn't have the physique to pursue that route with any conviction, but he still seemed to fancy himself as both an actor and a comedian capable of carrying a film, and sadly nobody told him (in time) how delusory such aspirations were. Especially his timing is conspicuous by its absence.
The content is mostly episodic, where some of the episodes manage to retain a certain charm thanks to a weirdness with a distinct surreal touch. There is not much to hold these episodes together though, the narrative thread is thin and even the style appears to change from episode to episode - mostly depending on whether Hartig was working with professional actors or laymen.
Any positive feelings about this project were annihilated by the horrific sight of a love scene between Gerhard Hartig and (shock! horror!) Helga Feddersen. I am tempted to blame it for the reduction of the German birth rate, because anybody watching this must have been put off sex for quite a while.
The first indication that we are in trouble arrives before the film starts (in the credits), because this is one of those sex films in which the director had put himself into the lead - such efforts frequently manage to out-vain Barbra Streisand (just have a look at the films of Jean-Marie Pallardy or Günter Hendel), and this is no mean achievement. Fortunately, Gerhard Hartig didn't have the physique to pursue that route with any conviction, but he still seemed to fancy himself as both an actor and a comedian capable of carrying a film, and sadly nobody told him (in time) how delusory such aspirations were. Especially his timing is conspicuous by its absence.
The content is mostly episodic, where some of the episodes manage to retain a certain charm thanks to a weirdness with a distinct surreal touch. There is not much to hold these episodes together though, the narrative thread is thin and even the style appears to change from episode to episode - mostly depending on whether Hartig was working with professional actors or laymen.
Any positive feelings about this project were annihilated by the horrific sight of a love scene between Gerhard Hartig and (shock! horror!) Helga Feddersen. I am tempted to blame it for the reduction of the German birth rate, because anybody watching this must have been put off sex for quite a while.
