"Homevideo" is a German television movie from 2011, so this one is also already over five years old. The director is Kilian Riedhof and I totally adore his Didi Hallervorden movie as well. He is a definite contender for my favorite German filmmaker right now. The script is by Jan Braren and for him it was apparently his very first work as the writer of a full feature film. Homevideo runs for 1.5 hours and it's the perfect example that if you look closely at all the German television stuff, which is sadly full of garbage and forgettable works, you can find an occasional gem. This movie certainly counts as such. For lead actor Jonas Nay, around the age of 20 here, it was his breakthrough role and he is incredibly good at portraying a student filled with fear and misery. He made one bad decision (there is no denying), but the consequences resulting from an unlucky coincidence involving his mother become disastrous. Jakob (the main character) is a sensitive student and a very fragile character and you could call everything that happens after minute 30 basically his very own way of the Cross. And he has to deal with it all while his parents cannot offer him a safe haven as their marriage is breaking apart.
What is the very best about this film? Tough to say. The performances are all quite convincing. I also thought Möhring was really good and portrayals like this one here make it easy for me to understand why he is among Germany's A-listers right now. But the story is also really interesting and I was curious all the time about what would happen next. I never had the impression that I was watching actors, but authentic characters from start to finish. If there was one thing that I maybe did not like as much, then it was the strange last scene between Jakob and Hannah and honestly her plan there did not make too much sense for me. But this is just personal perception. As for the ending, it is subjective choice exclusively if you like it or not. I think Riedhof and Braren did what they had to do before to make it seem authentic and the conversation he had with his dad clearly indicated what would happen next. It also puts more blame on him in terms of the access Jakob may have had that he shouldn't. And it shows what can happen all because of the mother's seemingly unimportant decision to give the camera to the other kids. Small decisions can cause big events.
Overall, I really did not expect this film to be so strong and well-done. I applaud everybody who worked on it and I agree with other reviewers who list this among Germany's finest in terms of 20th century movies. It may even be the number one looking at small screen films only. The film does not drag for a moment and I was glued to the screen very quickly. It was totally easy to care for the protagonist despite the somewhat perverted thing he did early in the film. I also would not call it manipulation, I call it a strong portrayal and interesting character and sympathy in this context seems to be the most natural thing ever, especially looking at how unlikable the other student is displayed, the one who uploaded the video. And there are many more important and relevant aspects in this film. I cannot mention them all as there is a word restriction to review writing on IMDb, but the one thing I definitely want to emphasize is the way in which pretty much every child's parents in this film are depicted as struggling to really make a connection with their child and understand what is going on in their offspring's mind and life. This also felt very true, be it about the main character, his love interest or the "bad guys". I highly highly recommend "Homevideo". It is one of the best films of 2011, not just from Germany, but from anywhere in the world. Don't miss out.
What is the very best about this film? Tough to say. The performances are all quite convincing. I also thought Möhring was really good and portrayals like this one here make it easy for me to understand why he is among Germany's A-listers right now. But the story is also really interesting and I was curious all the time about what would happen next. I never had the impression that I was watching actors, but authentic characters from start to finish. If there was one thing that I maybe did not like as much, then it was the strange last scene between Jakob and Hannah and honestly her plan there did not make too much sense for me. But this is just personal perception. As for the ending, it is subjective choice exclusively if you like it or not. I think Riedhof and Braren did what they had to do before to make it seem authentic and the conversation he had with his dad clearly indicated what would happen next. It also puts more blame on him in terms of the access Jakob may have had that he shouldn't. And it shows what can happen all because of the mother's seemingly unimportant decision to give the camera to the other kids. Small decisions can cause big events.
Overall, I really did not expect this film to be so strong and well-done. I applaud everybody who worked on it and I agree with other reviewers who list this among Germany's finest in terms of 20th century movies. It may even be the number one looking at small screen films only. The film does not drag for a moment and I was glued to the screen very quickly. It was totally easy to care for the protagonist despite the somewhat perverted thing he did early in the film. I also would not call it manipulation, I call it a strong portrayal and interesting character and sympathy in this context seems to be the most natural thing ever, especially looking at how unlikable the other student is displayed, the one who uploaded the video. And there are many more important and relevant aspects in this film. I cannot mention them all as there is a word restriction to review writing on IMDb, but the one thing I definitely want to emphasize is the way in which pretty much every child's parents in this film are depicted as struggling to really make a connection with their child and understand what is going on in their offspring's mind and life. This also felt very true, be it about the main character, his love interest or the "bad guys". I highly highly recommend "Homevideo". It is one of the best films of 2011, not just from Germany, but from anywhere in the world. Don't miss out.
