"Das freiwillige Jahr", which means "The Voluntary Year", is a German movie from 2019, so still relatively new, and this one runs for slightly under 1.5 hours. Ulrich Köhler and Henner Winckler collaborated in terms of screenplay and direction and both are fairly experienced and have worked since the early 90s on movies, even if they are not among the most prolific. Köhler is the one who is slightly more famous because he has been more successful with awards bodies in the past. They were also born in the same year, but nonetheless, despite all these parallels, this was their very first collaboration. Perhaps more will follow in the future. As for the cast, lead actress Maj-Britt Klenke is almost a rookie as she has only been in one short film before this one we have here (according to imdb). Still she is at the center of the story and if there is one undisputed lead, then it is her. I think taking her lack of experience into account, she did not entirely disappoint, but I also cannot say I liked her portrayal. I wish they could have gone for another actress this time. Maybe somebody mor experienced. The two male actors she keeps sharing the screen with (usually just one of the two) are Thomas Schubert and Sebastian Rudolph. One of them plays her boyfriend, the other her father. Achubert did fine and you can see he is also pretty experienced for his age already, but the one who really won me over this time was Rudolph. It's easy to see he has played in several pretty famous films over the years, even a Best Picture winner from the Oscars. He is the same age like the two filmmakers. His early scene when he tries to get into the apartment to find out what happened to his brother (or if something happened to his brother) is perhaps the very best. Commanding screen presence there from him and amazing energy that he gives to his character. Also I liked how things unfolded. That really nothing happened at all despite the build-up. It may not be what simple audiences would want to see as they say with this implication, there has to be a more dramatic twist of events, but it felt really realistic.
However, this idea of a potential emergency was already enough drama for the entire film already. Sadly they went for too much afterwards and it felt fake at some point. The best example is already how they (the protagonist and her boyfriend) were not on time for her to catch the plane. Also with what happened with the barrier there, the "almost crash" or was it a crash? I don't know. I don't really care either. But it was too much to feel authentic. Then the argument between the two a little while later and she disappears as a consequence. There it is implied that maybe something could have happened to her, which again is not justified. This felt a bit like a weak copy of the opening, the one I liked and described earlier. And finally the scene in which the father is almost beaten up by a few folks wwho think he is about to hurt the girl and this was at the very end. Again exaggerated in a negative way and it did not feel credible to me. The situation somewhat did, but as we have to take everything into account that happened earlier, it was just too much for one relatively short movie, also too much for one year, which according to the title is the span over which the action takes place here. So yeah, all in all I was not amazed by the lack of authenticity because this was exactly the area that the two filmmakers were really going for and in which they tried to deliver the most. This was supposed to be the film's foundation. In general, they did not always strike the right notes, also if we look at the slower parts. These were alright overall, but honestly at least five minutes there could have been cut as well, even if I think the bigger problem is how the film goes over the top on other occasions. But it adds up and the final outcome is a degree/lack of quality that makes me say I cannot recomment wwatching this movie. I think the potential was certainly there and I would also not blame the actors really because they did what they could with what they were given and in the screenplay's bets moments, they even manage to shine and turn this into a quality watch. But these best moments are too rare. Of course, may subjective perception that I was not too big on the young lead actress also plays a role and maybe they could have made better choices for the poster (you see here on imdb) and film's title too. To end the review on a positive note though, I liked how she went away into new adventures, towards new challenger at the very end before the closing credits are displayed. This was not the most original idea, but it was one that worked fine and gave decent (non-)closure. So the talent is there from everybody involved, it's just not seen too frequently and the film also proves that the script is more important than the cast when it comes to different production values. I give this one a thumbs-down. It's nowhere near failure territory and sometimes also a close call between weak and okay, but I think it's too forgettable overall. Skip the watch.
However, this idea of a potential emergency was already enough drama for the entire film already. Sadly they went for too much afterwards and it felt fake at some point. The best example is already how they (the protagonist and her boyfriend) were not on time for her to catch the plane. Also with what happened with the barrier there, the "almost crash" or was it a crash? I don't know. I don't really care either. But it was too much to feel authentic. Then the argument between the two a little while later and she disappears as a consequence. There it is implied that maybe something could have happened to her, which again is not justified. This felt a bit like a weak copy of the opening, the one I liked and described earlier. And finally the scene in which the father is almost beaten up by a few folks wwho think he is about to hurt the girl and this was at the very end. Again exaggerated in a negative way and it did not feel credible to me. The situation somewhat did, but as we have to take everything into account that happened earlier, it was just too much for one relatively short movie, also too much for one year, which according to the title is the span over which the action takes place here. So yeah, all in all I was not amazed by the lack of authenticity because this was exactly the area that the two filmmakers were really going for and in which they tried to deliver the most. This was supposed to be the film's foundation. In general, they did not always strike the right notes, also if we look at the slower parts. These were alright overall, but honestly at least five minutes there could have been cut as well, even if I think the bigger problem is how the film goes over the top on other occasions. But it adds up and the final outcome is a degree/lack of quality that makes me say I cannot recomment wwatching this movie. I think the potential was certainly there and I would also not blame the actors really because they did what they could with what they were given and in the screenplay's bets moments, they even manage to shine and turn this into a quality watch. But these best moments are too rare. Of course, may subjective perception that I was not too big on the young lead actress also plays a role and maybe they could have made better choices for the poster (you see here on imdb) and film's title too. To end the review on a positive note though, I liked how she went away into new adventures, towards new challenger at the very end before the closing credits are displayed. This was not the most original idea, but it was one that worked fine and gave decent (non-)closure. So the talent is there from everybody involved, it's just not seen too frequently and the film also proves that the script is more important than the cast when it comes to different production values. I give this one a thumbs-down. It's nowhere near failure territory and sometimes also a close call between weak and okay, but I think it's too forgettable overall. Skip the watch.
