"Systemfehler - Wenn Inge tanzt" is a German German-language movie from 2013, so by now it is still under 5 years old. It is among the more known works by director Wolfgang Groos and he has made several other films in his career that were especially made for younger audiences. The screenplay is by a trio of writers of which one has never worked in film before or afterward and the other two have collaborated on other occasions as well. This is maybe one of the most known German movies when it comes to the genre of movies bout female students who seem like ugly ducklings, but turn out as beautiful swans eventually. But this is only partially true as lead actress Paula Kalenberg never looks unattractive at all in here. I must say I kinda like her and I did not know she is the one playing the title character in this film that runs for slightly under 100 minutes. And she is certainly also among the better aspects of the film. But this is not because she is great or anything, just because there are many really really weak components in here.
Lets take a look at lead actor Tim Oliver Schultz. He is sometimes very forgettable and these are his better moments. On other occasions, he is downright bad. Same goes for the actors who play his band colleagues. As for Schultz' character, with the way things turn out at the very end, it becomes obvious that the filmmakers want us to care for him, but honestly he is such a jackass all the time that this is impossible completely. Of course, you can make a reference about his character transformation, but honestly it did not feel authentic for one second. It was basically a 180 degree turn that happened within under 10 minutes. And now we already touch the subject of realism. This is probably the biggest issue in this movie. Let me give you a handful examples. She hates the band, hates their style of music, but she agrees to step in for the injured guy. The two protagonists have zero chemistry, actually they say on several occasions how they are not only not attracted to one another, but actually despise the other. Yet it is enough to drive somewhere to no man's land, let them out and they start kissing. Out of absolutely nowhere. Now lets have a few words on the song in the title. Inge (Kalenberg) does not want the band to perform it anymore. This is an absolutely crucial thing for her. One for which she even joins a band she hates. And in the end she just doesn't care at all anymore. It's perfectly fine to say that she maybe would not care. But it is not fine if she stops caring from one second to the next after caring so much for the entire movie. It's all so bizarre and makes no sense at all. Another thing: she was a guitar player only, but in the end she starts singing. And it turns into a great performance of course with no practice in this constellation.
I think I have said enough. There is nothing in here that makes this film worth seeing. This makes me a bit sad because I expected way more seeing Kalenberg, who admittedly is as stunning as always. In terms of the comedy, they brought in Peter Kraus (in his 70s) and his constant references about dying etc. and trying out coffins and many more stop being funny really quickly and just become somewhat uninteresting, maybe even depressing. It still says a whole lot about the film that Kraus' moments are probably still among the better scenes in here and not because they are good, but because everything else is pointless nonsense really. Major thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.
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