"Blatt und Blüte - Die Erbschaft" is a German television film from 2004 (so over 15 years old now) that runs for almost 1.5 hours and was directed by Michael Kreindl and written by Susanne Freund. If you take a look at both their bodies of work, then you know that you should not expect greatness here. Gently speaking, that is. This refers to their works back then as well as today. Nothing has really changed. This is an Austrian co-production. The director's name does sound Austrian, but he is German in fact. However, there are many Austrian cast members here and this also applies to one half of the lead acting duo. That would be Christiane Hörbiger, who is in her 80s now, and she also has a pretty known name that you will immediately recognize when hearing it. If you recognize her face is a completely different question. Probably not her range because I think she is a really overrated actress and in recent years (almost decades) she has been in many films of such low quality like this one here. So she is not lead actress material as far as I am concerned. As for her male counterpart, my opinion could not be any more different. Götz George is among the best we have eher had in terms of German actors and I find it a bit sad that he appeared in a crappy film like this one here. He is so much better than the material he has to work with in this film. I will just mention a few examples during which this one felt really weak and uninspired. At the key of it all was the core plot really. This story about the priceless painting was never elaborated on to a degree where it could have been a satisfying watch from a dramatic perspective. Instead, they went for too many jokes that most of the time weren't one bit funny. The worst moment when it comes to that was probably the weird guy with the colorful hair who we were supposed to find funny because of how much over the top he was. I didn't one bit. I am of course talking about the scene, during which the main antagonist wants to steal the painting at gunpoint and the gay guy I just mentioned is dressed up as a women and he carries a portrait of himself naked instead of the painting the bad guy wants to have. Now that was utter cringe and I feel sorry for everybody who thought that was funny. Also it did not make any sense whatsoever, like come how would they even know the villain tries to steal it that night and the effort they put in it. Like actually come up with this other picture, then carry it around, then dress up as a girl. Imagine the chameleon had simply arrived home and nothing would have happened. Now that way he would have been such a major fool. But of course he is likable and it happens. Only in the movies.
Now back to the two protgonists, they also have their fair share of pretty bad moments. The best exampe is the very end. There is a pretty ugly conversation between them, in which especially Goerges' character says some mean things to Hörbiger's and it seems they are breaking up again like they did back in the day and this time they will not see each other again after a long long time, but never see each other again, which is the only reasonable outcome looking at their ages. However, this would not be a German afternoon television film if they did not justg out of nowhere include a happy ending and he is hidden at the back of the carriage and starts hugging her. With all he said before that? And yet we are supposed to believe he loves her and we are supposed to believe she just takes him back despite what he said (and also despite the negative things she said)? Completely unrealistic, maybe also that he is even up there at the carriage from a physical perspective and that nobody recognizes. I was tempted to give this film actually two stars out of five despite all its weaknesses, but the end made it very clear for me that 4 out of 10 would still be too much, so 2 out of 10 seems accurate and it is really bad. This also refers to basically all the subplots included in here, which aren't convincing either, such as the huge coincidence how the two main characters even meet. So yeah, a lot you see in here would never happen this way in reality, so it felt very much staged from beginning to end. There are more mildly known actors in here like Silberschneider, Gärtner and Kren in supporting rules, but it is just never about anybody else but the two in the lead. May Götz George rest in peace and I am happy he left us so many films that are far superior to this one here. With Hörbiger I am not so sure. Anyway, the title here sounds somehow strange too with the "Blatt und Blüte" reference (Leaf and Blossom) because this had like zero connection to the actual film. It also would not have been the greatest choice if these were just the protagonists' last names à la Edel und Starck, but this way it is even worse. Maybe it also implied that "Die Erbschaft" could be the first film starring these two characters, but they never made a sequel and that was maybe the best decision anybody made about this movie. One is one too many already for sure. Big thumbs-down. Highly not recommended.
Now back to the two protgonists, they also have their fair share of pretty bad moments. The best exampe is the very end. There is a pretty ugly conversation between them, in which especially Goerges' character says some mean things to Hörbiger's and it seems they are breaking up again like they did back in the day and this time they will not see each other again after a long long time, but never see each other again, which is the only reasonable outcome looking at their ages. However, this would not be a German afternoon television film if they did not justg out of nowhere include a happy ending and he is hidden at the back of the carriage and starts hugging her. With all he said before that? And yet we are supposed to believe he loves her and we are supposed to believe she just takes him back despite what he said (and also despite the negative things she said)? Completely unrealistic, maybe also that he is even up there at the carriage from a physical perspective and that nobody recognizes. I was tempted to give this film actually two stars out of five despite all its weaknesses, but the end made it very clear for me that 4 out of 10 would still be too much, so 2 out of 10 seems accurate and it is really bad. This also refers to basically all the subplots included in here, which aren't convincing either, such as the huge coincidence how the two main characters even meet. So yeah, a lot you see in here would never happen this way in reality, so it felt very much staged from beginning to end. There are more mildly known actors in here like Silberschneider, Gärtner and Kren in supporting rules, but it is just never about anybody else but the two in the lead. May Götz George rest in peace and I am happy he left us so many films that are far superior to this one here. With Hörbiger I am not so sure. Anyway, the title here sounds somehow strange too with the "Blatt und Blüte" reference (Leaf and Blossom) because this had like zero connection to the actual film. It also would not have been the greatest choice if these were just the protagonists' last names à la Edel und Starck, but this way it is even worse. Maybe it also implied that "Die Erbschaft" could be the first film starring these two characters, but they never made a sequel and that was maybe the best decision anybody made about this movie. One is one too many already for sure. Big thumbs-down. Highly not recommended.
