"Heimat ist kein Ort", which means "Home is not a place", is a German television film from 2015, so it has its 5th anniversary this year, which means it is neither a particularly new nor old movie. Like the vast majority of small screen releases here in Germany, it runs for slightly under 1.5 hours. If you take a look at the people who made this one, you can already guess that the outcome here is not particularly high quality. Director Witte's most known career efforts include Inga Lindström adaptations (basically the same like Rosamunde Pilcher), so in his case it is definitely true that quantity does not mean quality because he has been a really prolific filmmaker for quite a while. As for the writers, Müller is not experienced at all, while Malinke is almost a big name now thanks to his collaborations with Til Schweiger that even got him to Hollywood. It's all make-believe though. All recent Schweiger films (that Malinke worked on) were really bad in terms of quality and the main reason is the screenplay. Writers like these, who really lack talent whatsoever, should not be allowed to make screenplays for Nick Nolte movies. Anyway, this was Malinke's final effort in terms of rather unknown films before he went on a break of several years before he started working with Schweiger. As for the cast here, they are probably not as bad as the people who made this movie, some of them at least, but then again the fact that they agreed to star in this mess does not say anything positive about them. This especially refers to Jörg Schüttauf, who is a pretty decent actor from other films I have seen. Also this applies to Sönke Möhring, who may not be as famous as his brother Wotan Wilke, but he is not less talented in my opinion. Actually, he is an actor who usually appeared in higgh-qualuty films from what I have seen (unlike Wotan Wilke), so I am even a bit shocked, he is in here. These are the main two. With Marie Gruber, I am not surprised she is in here at all because he performance kinda fits the film's (lack of) quality.
Just one example: The scene when these wild cows/bulls show up and she runs away while rambling about her family. So you get it already, this is a family movie, with lots of (unsuccessful) comedy and some drama. I think when the film tries to get emotional is really when it is at its worst and that means quite something because the comedy parts are not working out at all either. Just take the story with the Polish guide (or instructor) and it was immediately clear he would start a romantic relationship with that young blonde woman. Says it all about the quality in this film. And there is also the pseudo drama about him making out with a former girlfriend and the volatile German woman runs away and is so disappointed. But after a pretentious speech by Gruber's character to her, she realizes she should give the man another chance and of course they end up happy together joking at the beach in the end. And so does everybody else and these forced happy endings (with very little realism to them) are usually the best example why these German small screen films suck. Just make the audience happy at any cost. Who cares about it not making any sense with the story. And of course, you will also find the (almost) escalation drama-wise that happens not too long before said happy ending. Oh well, don't even get me started when it comes to the LBGT story involving Möhring's character. And the lack of respect for him. The only ones who do not get any respect are the people in the audience here. That much is safe. of course' Schüttauf's character near the end also makes a statement that he wishes the man finds a caring boyfriend, which shows that he accepted his homosexuality. It's really the generic inclusion of a subject that media, politics and everybody else loves right now, so they thougght they could just get away with it without including a proper and at least slightly believable and interesting story that did not feel for the sake of it. The sad thing is they probably got away with it on many occasions. What is especially concerning is that it is those directly affected by this subject who just suck it up and appreciate it if it is included at all (like it is here), while these should be the ones most critical, the ones who should care the most for not just a relatable inclusion, but that there is an actual cake below the icing. So yeah, enough said. The film takes itself really seriously here and the outcome is horrific. Very poorly written, disappointinggly acted, even if you must say in the cast's favor that the script here could not have been turned into a quality movie by even the most talented actors on the planet. Malinke delivers again as expected. As bad as I expected, I mean with that. The soundtrack is extremely uninspired and generic by the way too. And not even people from Poland should watch this film, even if it plays mostly in their country. In short, nobody should watch it and it is not even good enough for German afternoon television where it was shown today. Massive thumbs-down.
Just one example: The scene when these wild cows/bulls show up and she runs away while rambling about her family. So you get it already, this is a family movie, with lots of (unsuccessful) comedy and some drama. I think when the film tries to get emotional is really when it is at its worst and that means quite something because the comedy parts are not working out at all either. Just take the story with the Polish guide (or instructor) and it was immediately clear he would start a romantic relationship with that young blonde woman. Says it all about the quality in this film. And there is also the pseudo drama about him making out with a former girlfriend and the volatile German woman runs away and is so disappointed. But after a pretentious speech by Gruber's character to her, she realizes she should give the man another chance and of course they end up happy together joking at the beach in the end. And so does everybody else and these forced happy endings (with very little realism to them) are usually the best example why these German small screen films suck. Just make the audience happy at any cost. Who cares about it not making any sense with the story. And of course, you will also find the (almost) escalation drama-wise that happens not too long before said happy ending. Oh well, don't even get me started when it comes to the LBGT story involving Möhring's character. And the lack of respect for him. The only ones who do not get any respect are the people in the audience here. That much is safe. of course' Schüttauf's character near the end also makes a statement that he wishes the man finds a caring boyfriend, which shows that he accepted his homosexuality. It's really the generic inclusion of a subject that media, politics and everybody else loves right now, so they thougght they could just get away with it without including a proper and at least slightly believable and interesting story that did not feel for the sake of it. The sad thing is they probably got away with it on many occasions. What is especially concerning is that it is those directly affected by this subject who just suck it up and appreciate it if it is included at all (like it is here), while these should be the ones most critical, the ones who should care the most for not just a relatable inclusion, but that there is an actual cake below the icing. So yeah, enough said. The film takes itself really seriously here and the outcome is horrific. Very poorly written, disappointinggly acted, even if you must say in the cast's favor that the script here could not have been turned into a quality movie by even the most talented actors on the planet. Malinke delivers again as expected. As bad as I expected, I mean with that. The soundtrack is extremely uninspired and generic by the way too. And not even people from Poland should watch this film, even if it plays mostly in their country. In short, nobody should watch it and it is not even good enough for German afternoon television where it was shown today. Massive thumbs-down.
