Wacky

Movie
German title	Wacky
Original title	Be Kind Rewind
Country of production	USA , UK
original language	English
Publishing year	2008
length	101 minutes
Age rating	FSK 0 ; JMK 0
Rod
Director	Michel Gondry
script	Michel Gondry
production	Georges Bermann , ; Julie Fong
music	Jean-Michel Bernard
camera	Ellen Kuras
cut	Jeff Buchanan
occupation
	Jack Black : Jerry; Mos Def : Mike; Danny Glover : Elroy Fletcher; Melonie Diaz : Alma; Mia Farrow : Mrs. Falewicz; Sigourney Weaver : Mrs. Lawson; Karolina Wydra : Gabrielle Bochenski;

Turned off (Original title: Be Kind Rewind) is a comedy film from 2008 . It was directed by Michel Gondry , who also wrote the script.

action

Elroy Fletcher runs a badly running video library in Passaic . Sales have been falling for several years - also because Fletcher only offers VHS and no DVD films. In addition, the municipality wants to demolish the building, including its small shop, in favor of condominiums. Alternatively, Fletcher is supposed to renovate the building, but he lacks the necessary money.

Fletcher travels to a neighboring city in order to secretly spy on a large video store. He wants to find out how to save his business. With a heavy heart he leaves the city and leaves the business to his a little bit clumsy employee Mike. When he is already on the train and about to leave, he tries at the last minute to tell Mike to forbid his chaotic friend Jerry from entering the video store. However, Mike doesn't understand what Fletcher wants from him and shortly afterwards lets Jerry into the video store. He wants to sabotage the city's power station with Mike's help , as he blames it for his headache. During the attempt, however, he got caught in a high-voltage spark , survived, but has been electromagnetically charged since then . Jerry accidentally erases all of the VHS tapes in Fletcher's shop. In order to limit the damage, the two then decide to make self-made remakes of the lost classics. First they shoot the film Ghostbusters , which the older Mrs. Falewicz, a friend of Fletcher, would like to borrow. In the same way they also produce Rush Hour 2 , The Lion King and RoboCop for customers . They explain the delays with the fact that the belts first have to be "swung". With this verb Jerry and Mike describe the re-shooting of the films as a special and complex technique. Despite or above all because of the trashy staging, the films are in high demand.

The video store is making good sales again regardless of the DVD competition. The townspeople now work in the films as extras or in supporting roles. It is an honor for them to be part of the amateur productions. Fletcher, who has meanwhile returned from his trip, follows the activities in disbelief. With so much success, the film industry is not long in coming and is suing against the production of around 200 films that have now been shot. Fletcher, Mike and Jerry are accused by lawyer Lawson of violating copyrights for the films they make , and all films that are "swept" are subsequently confiscated and destroyed by the agency.

Despite initial resignation, the friends then film the fictional life of Fats Waller , who is said to have been born in the premises of today's video store. Although this is not true, it sprang from Fletcher's imagination and was told as a bedtime story to Mike in his childhood . So both feel strongly connected to this story and are ambitiously pursuing its cinematic implementation. Friends and acquaintances of the two are again involved. Still, Fletcher cannot raise enough money to maintain his video library. The shop is to be cleared and then demolished. The friends finish the filming and want to show their film about Fats Waller, the most ambitious project to date, to their supporters on the last night before the eviction. Since the screen on which the film is projected hangs in front of the shop window, not only are the guests in the video store watching, but a large number of passers-by on the street are well entertained by the self-produced film.

background

The film was shot in New York City , Passaic , Hackensack and River Edge . Filming began on 5 September 2006 and ended in November 2006. Its production amounted to approximately 20 million US dollars . The world premiere took place on January 20, 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival , at the 58th Berlinale the film was shown out of competition on February 16, 2008. The widespread release in cinemas took place in the USA from February 22, 2008 and in Switzerland the film was first seen on March 5, 2008. In Germany, the film opened in cinemas on April 3, 2008, in Austria the theatrical release took place on April 25, 2008. On the opening weekend, the film grossed over 4 million US dollars in the USA, and in total it came in in the USA Higher than $ 11.1 million.

The film sparked a trend towards "Sweden", that is, re-shooting well-known films with the simplest means. A separate channel has been set up on YouTube for this purpose. The term "Sweden" for films was chosen because Sweden, in contrast to various other countries, takes the position that privately shot films distributed via the Internet do not constitute copyright infringements, but are a form of freedom of expression and their distribution can therefore be carried out with impunity .

Elizabeth Berkley can be seen in a cameo during “Sweden” of the Ghostbuster film in the library.

The version of the film, known as the Director's Cut , is around 84 seconds longer than the theatrical version and contains three additional passages.

Film music

In addition to the film music by Jean-Michel Bernard, u. a. with Duke Ellington's Solitude , the film also features some original Fats Waller songs such as I Ain't Got Nobody , which can also be heard in the Booker T. Jones version , Your Feets Too Big and the traditional swing low, Sweet Chariot , as well as Nothing from Nothing by Billy Preston . Waller's best-known song, Ain't Misbehavin ' , is interpreted by Jack Black.

criticism

Todd McCarthy wrote in Variety magazine on January 21, 2008 that the film was "remarkably fleeting" and could not overcome the lack of logic of its own premise. His inspiration is just as meager as the antics of the leading actors are lame. Gondry tends to have "silly quirks" and farce without a strong co-writer of the script . A video store that only has magnetic tapes is a "total anachronism ".

Georg Seeßlen wrote a “swed film review” and asked in it “Have you ever seen swed films? The best kind of remakes. I can only recommend. No comparison with faked or Germanized films. Sweded films are shorter, faster, funnier and poorer than the originals. "

The lexicon of international films said: "A wonderful declaration of love for the cinema as well as for jazz, which, thanks to Michel Gondry's wealth of ideas and playful actors, quickly lets you forget dramaturgical bumps, turns comedically against conformity and celebrates creativity and solidarity."