"Schicksalstage in Bangkok", which means literally translated "Fateful Days in Bangkok", is a German television film from 2009, so this one is already over a decade old. It runs for 1.5 hours as they usually do and also, even if almost the entire film is set in Thailand, is is nonetheless not even a Thai co-production, which these German television films with strong links to other countries also have in common. The number of locals is kept at a minimum and the dubbing is terrible. Actually it felt as if on one occasion when a local is dubbed, they simply used the same voice actor as they do later on when we hear a man reading a letter to us. I could be wrong there though. Back to the basics: The writers are either blood-related or married, not 100% safe to say, but they carry the same name. The director is Hartmut Griesmayr, apparently a filmmaker since the late 1960s really and retired not, but if, after 40 years of experience in the industry, he is still making trashy films like this one here, it may be a hopeless case. A bit sad too. The movie was always bound to fail if we are taking a look at everything else the Karthees did. Alright. As for the cast, you will find familiar faces here. Suzanne von Borsody plays the central character. Sometimes, I am not too harsh on her admittedly, but the fact that she not only agreed to star in this mess, but even had some scenes that were really poorly acted says absolutely nothing positive in her favor. No idea why she accepted the part. Maybe she was just in the mood for spending some holiday time in Asia. Her co-lead Bettina Zimmermann is an actress I always found beautiful, but range-wise there is absolutely nothing too her at all. Very limited actress. Roll and Bachmann are actresses you maybe came across on other projects already, but their characters and performances are also as shallow as it gets. Bachmann is always easy to recognize for me because she looks fairly similar to Dorkas Kiefer. Speaking of similarities, the only male actor with more than a few seconds screen time in here is Guntbert Warns and when I see him, I always think of Grönemeyer. Okay, so much for the basics. I must say that it is quite an atrocity that this film is still on national television taking into account how old it already is. Basically a perfect exhibit of how ARD etc. waste billions of GEZ money and deliver no content in exchange.
Now a few words on the story and why I thought it was not good at all. Really pseudo drama of the very worst kind from beginning to end. The anti-male component you almost always find in these films is also included. The guy the protagonist is looking for could have had a secret affair. Meanwhile her best friend is in a relationship with another man who eventually returns to his wife apparently, so he also had an affair. Honestly, the only thing missing here would have been Warns' character also being unfaithful to his partner, so literally they can say all men are cheaters and unrealiable when it comes to the women in their lives. Pathetic stuff. Sexism works both ways. Then again, Warns' character gets that "climate is getting tense" moment right away, a prime example of how metaphors can be used in a really pathetic way in movies. He is a male, so he needs to be treated as an antagonist form the very start. Alright, there are many other cringeworthy moments here from beginning to end, mostly because this film dares to take itself so seriously all the time while from a creative perspective absolutely having no right to do so. Gonna give you a few examples. One would be that scene with the dog attacking the stuffed animal. What was up with that? And as if that was not bad enough already, we have von Borsody's character interfere despite being told the dog is kinda dangerous. Sigh. What a powerful woman. Or the confrontation scene between the two women when one is accused of secretly going through the other's stuff. Unbearable to watch, also with how there is a reference so random to something that happened during swimming earlier that day. But it is also the small moments here that suck. Like there is talk about a business partner from China and they say his anme is Lee and they immediately know who it is. Haha. No words for that. I still think the name Lee is more common in Korea, but still. They cannot be serious with that. But they fully are. Not one light moment in this film. Oh yeah, when we have Kiefer's errr. Bachmann's character here talk on the phone with the protagonist on one occasion, a man interrupts and is immediately bullied by her. Good thing he left her. Only accurate response as clearly she treats him not even close to the way she should regardless of how he treats her. But there are two more key plot elements in terms of the core story I would like to mention. First would be the story about Zimmermann's character being terminally ill and secondly the idea that the man the protagonist is investigating about may actually still be alive. This is all so absurd and forced for the sake of it. Also together with the exaggerated soundtrack. They felt as if they were delivering big emotions here. No excuse for that. Quotes like "My daughter will spend her next birthday without me" gave me goosebumps, but for all the wrong reasons. Or the scene when von Borsody's character sends away the woman applying for the job. What was up with that? Unreal stuff. No matter which perspective you take here, this film is an absolute disaster. Why Suzanne why? Absolutely skip the outcome here and it shhould never be shown again. May sound harsh, but it's just accurate. The only reason I do give two instead of one star here is because I rate out of five. Otherwise I totally would. Unwatchable in its entirety.
Now a few words on the story and why I thought it was not good at all. Really pseudo drama of the very worst kind from beginning to end. The anti-male component you almost always find in these films is also included. The guy the protagonist is looking for could have had a secret affair. Meanwhile her best friend is in a relationship with another man who eventually returns to his wife apparently, so he also had an affair. Honestly, the only thing missing here would have been Warns' character also being unfaithful to his partner, so literally they can say all men are cheaters and unrealiable when it comes to the women in their lives. Pathetic stuff. Sexism works both ways. Then again, Warns' character gets that "climate is getting tense" moment right away, a prime example of how metaphors can be used in a really pathetic way in movies. He is a male, so he needs to be treated as an antagonist form the very start. Alright, there are many other cringeworthy moments here from beginning to end, mostly because this film dares to take itself so seriously all the time while from a creative perspective absolutely having no right to do so. Gonna give you a few examples. One would be that scene with the dog attacking the stuffed animal. What was up with that? And as if that was not bad enough already, we have von Borsody's character interfere despite being told the dog is kinda dangerous. Sigh. What a powerful woman. Or the confrontation scene between the two women when one is accused of secretly going through the other's stuff. Unbearable to watch, also with how there is a reference so random to something that happened during swimming earlier that day. But it is also the small moments here that suck. Like there is talk about a business partner from China and they say his anme is Lee and they immediately know who it is. Haha. No words for that. I still think the name Lee is more common in Korea, but still. They cannot be serious with that. But they fully are. Not one light moment in this film. Oh yeah, when we have Kiefer's errr. Bachmann's character here talk on the phone with the protagonist on one occasion, a man interrupts and is immediately bullied by her. Good thing he left her. Only accurate response as clearly she treats him not even close to the way she should regardless of how he treats her. But there are two more key plot elements in terms of the core story I would like to mention. First would be the story about Zimmermann's character being terminally ill and secondly the idea that the man the protagonist is investigating about may actually still be alive. This is all so absurd and forced for the sake of it. Also together with the exaggerated soundtrack. They felt as if they were delivering big emotions here. No excuse for that. Quotes like "My daughter will spend her next birthday without me" gave me goosebumps, but for all the wrong reasons. Or the scene when von Borsody's character sends away the woman applying for the job. What was up with that? Unreal stuff. No matter which perspective you take here, this film is an absolute disaster. Why Suzanne why? Absolutely skip the outcome here and it shhould never be shown again. May sound harsh, but it's just accurate. The only reason I do give two instead of one star here is because I rate out of five. Otherwise I totally would. Unwatchable in its entirety.