The million race

Movie
Original title	The million race
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	2012
length	90 minutes
Rod
Director	Christoph Snow
script	Benjamin Hessler
production	Katharina M. Trebitsch
music	Dieter Schleip
camera	Diethard Prengel
cut	Guido Krajewski
occupation
	Axel Prahl : Mathias Wengeler; Peter Lohmeyer : Ronny Kowallek; Beata Lehmann : Rita Wengeler; Luise Risch : Dani; Petra Welteroth : Hanne; Justine Hauer : Anja; Christoph Schechinger : Christian; Friederike Becht : Sandy; Chiem van Houweninge : breeder;

The Million Race (original title, correct would be: "The Million Race") is a Ruhr area comedy that was first broadcast on December 12, 2012 on ARD . It is named after the famous pigeon race of the same name in Sun City, South Africa .

action

Mathias Wengeler, known as “Matze”, lives with his wife and daughter in Bochum in the colliery house where he grew up. His passion is pigeon breeding, the line of which was founded by his grandfather and is being continued by him in the third generation. Unfortunately, this occupation leads to constant quarrels with his wife Rita, which often degenerates into an argument between the married couple, especially in view of financial problems. In one of these arguments, his wife Rita implies that Matze may have to choose between his wife and his pigeons if the situation does not change. There are also professional problems: Matze has been working for the bankruptcy of his company as a locksmith in a call center and must Newspaper abos sell what the honest and just embodies style, very difficult for him. His team leader accuses him of a lack of commitment and admonishes him to increase sales significantly. The children's home where Rita works is to be closed. Daughter Dani is also very nervous because of the separation from her boyfriend, who has started a year abroad in South Africa.

Surprisingly, the neighbor's son Ronny Kowallek reappears in the settlement after years of living abroad on the occasion of the death of his father. Matze and Ronny have a difficult relationship with each other, the causes of which stem from a competitive struggle from childhood. A key event is shown in a flashback, which is shown several times in different lengths in the film: Matze runs with the ring of a pigeon who has returned to the loft to a registration office to have the arrival time documented. Ronny follows him on his bike and falls badly. Matze hesitates briefly in view of the importance of his assignment, returns to the passed out on the floor Ronny to help him. The pigeon ring falls to the ground. Ronny notices this, grabs the ring, jumps up "as if he had risen from the dead" and runs to the registration office, reports that he was the first to arrive, Matzes pigeon as his and becomes the winner of the race. Therefore, Matze does not trust Ronny when he is asked for a favor. First of all, it is a matter of raising some pigeons at the father's funeral, it was the wish of the deceased father, who thought a lot of Wengeler's pigeon breeding and especially of Matze as a “pigeon whisperer”. Later he comes out with his plan: He wants to persuade Matze to take part in the one million dollar race in South Africa, the prize money will be shared. In view of the bad experience with Ronny, Matze initially refused, but decided differently when he happened to find the business card of a divorce lawyer with an appointment confirmation in his wife's documents.

He moves the pigeons to the loft of his neighbor Ronny and instructs him to care for the pigeons, they secretly plan to take part in the race in South Africa. Rita is overjoyed at the empty dovecote and the relationship stabilizes. Daughter Dani, however, rightly suspects a dirty deal behind it and is sworn to silence with her father's promise of a plane ticket to South Africa to her boyfriend. However, Ronny is overwhelmed with the pigeon care, Matze has to intervene constantly and secretly towards his wife. Unfortunately, one evening Ronny forgets to close the door, a marten causes a bloodbath among the pigeons and kills everyone. Contrary to all warnings, Matze is still on his boss' watch list, he calls Matze at the call center, who leaves his workplace in panic and anger to watch the disaster. The two fight violently, Matze returns to work afterwards, is quoted to the boss, who has no understanding for pigeon breeding, and is dismissed without notice. When he got home, he didn't have the heart to convey this bad news to his wife, as she learned on the same day that she, too, would lose her job because the children's home was being closed against all protests and petitions. By chance, however, she later learns the story of the pigeons and the dismissal from a former colleague. Thereupon she puts Matze, as threatened, in front of the door.

He moves in with Ronny, the preparations for Africa continue, because fortunately a pigeon had flown away again and therefore, coming back too late, survived the massacre. In order to rebuild the breed, Ronny and Matze visit the only high-quality exhibition that can still be reached. There Ronny exchanges a pigeon that fits perfectly into the breeding line for an old pigeon photo on which the Dutch breeder recognizes one of his first pigeons. Otherwise the two would not have been able to acquire the valuable pigeon, which should have cost 4,000 euros. Five months later, Matze, Ronny and Dani are actually in South Africa. Dani surprises her boyfriend with the visit and realizes that, unlike her, he has not remained loyal, has a new partner on site and, contrary to the plans, moves disappointed into the two men's hotel. As expected, Ronny has again tricked to increase the chances of victory, because he too is in financial worries: He knows one of the pigeon trainers who, independently of the breeders, train the pigeons of the participants for months on site. It was planned to officially register a pigeon, but to replace it with another that will be released closer to the finish. The "official" pigeon has been trained for a different target so that the cheating should not be noticed by the arbitration board. But then the trainer gets cold feet and gets out shortly before the race, which is why Ronny Matze has to initiate.

Of necessity, Matze - who had already become suspicious at the pigeon acceptance point after he had given in the replacement pigeon himself despite his inadequate language skills - agrees and both drive with the original pigeon to the planned, illegal start location closer to the finish. Matze secretly removes the pigeon's ring and releases it, Ronny confesses that he is still there, who is initially desperate, but ultimately accepts the matter as revenge for what he did as a child. Back at the hotel, they find out from Dani that their replacement pigeon came in third. This place is endowed with US $ 300,000 in prize money. After returning to Bochum, Matze is allowed to live at home again, the dovecote has been converted into a greenhouse, now the plants are lovingly cared for by him and a bank appointment is pending. Suddenly the original pigeon released in South Africa lands in the entry box and is warmly welcomed by Matze, among other things, in appreciation of the great flight performance - knowing full well that pigeon keeping and marriage do not go together with him.

Both pigeons are subsequently entrusted by Matze and Ronny to the well-informed Dutch breeder who traveled to the country, whereby the German word Thank you is explicitly mentioned on the Dutch side.

background

The film was shot in Cologne and South Africa .

criticism

"(TV) comedy that mainly relies on the interaction between its two main actors."

- Lexicon of international film

“The story is as simple as the milieu in which it takes place […] of course the film goes on a roller coaster of emotions. But three great leading actors show with ease: It really does exist - the good comedy from Germany that even pigeon haters can have fun with. "

- New Osnabrück newspaper

“Christoph Schnee staged a very clever type comedy at times with the charm of the Ruhr area. Schnee [...] relies entirely on the play of his leading actor duo Axel Prahl and Peter Lohmeyer. The script, which is not always accurate, comes from Benjamin Hessler. [...] Axel Prahl, who is known as the Münster "Tatort" investigator, shows once again that characters far from the bourgeoisie are tailor-made for him. "

- prism