The model boys (film series)

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Die Musterknaben is a series of humorous police films directed by Ralf Huettner . Between 1997 and 2003 three episodes were produced that could be seen on ZDF . The first two parts were produced by the Neue Deutsche Filmgesellschaft , the third part by Die Film GmbH . The first part, Die Musterknaben , was also used as a movie.

Content, conception

The eponymous model boys are two criminal police officers from Cologne-Porz who are characterized as antiheroes . Jürgen Docker is played by Jürgen Tarrach , his colleague Oliver Dretzke by Oliver Korittke . The episodes were written by Ralf Huettner and Dominic Raacke .

The Musterknaben films are humorous and satirize the typical clichés of German police series with witty language and situational comedy. Even the disrespectful and cheeky title song makes it clear that this is not a conventional crime film (“The model boys, you can have fun, stress, lust or frustration”).

In figurative terms, Docker and Dretzke are somewhat reminiscent of the successful American comedian duo Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel . The two investigators are fashionably characterized by outmoded mustaches , old-fashioned leather jackets and greasy hairstyles. Docker and Dretzke live in brutalist one-room apartments , the furnishings of which look old and unadorned. The skinny Dretzke is a regular visitor to the fitness studio, the overweight Docker prefers to spend his free time at home on the couch . Dretzke dreams of returning to his hometown Berlin . Docker receives regular visits from his dominant mother, portrayed by Henriette Thimig , who accompanies him, for example, to the lengthy shoe purchase. The two investigators quarrel regularly, and women are often the reason.

The model boys' office is - in the first two episodes - in the basement of the police headquarters and can only be reached via gloomy corridors. A couple of narrow upper windows provide a view of the courtyard. The office looks untidy and dingy, the investigators prepare their coffee with a dirty coffee machine . In the third episode in the series, Docker and Dretzke seem to have moved into a new, somewhat more comfortable office. Docker's efforts to find a parking space for his private car in the courtyard of the Presidium are not always successful. Dretzke, on the other hand, is always out and about with his motorcycle.

The private and professional life of the two investigators is marked by failures and misjudgments, and relationships with superiors or higher-ranking colleagues are burdened with conflicts . The investigators are entrusted with ungrateful assignments by their boss. Docker and Dretzke often appear undisciplined and unmotivated and often demonstrate their criminalistic qualities in order to impress attractive women. From an amorous point of view, however, despite their best efforts, the police always end up unhappy.

Previous episodes

  • Die Musterknaben (1997): Docker and Dretzke support two Düsseldorf LKA officers with the observation of an international drug ring. Docker falls in love with the Dutch barmaid Wanda. When he reveals details of the ongoing investigation in order to impress her with his professional status, doom takes its course. Docker also suspects that the arrogant LKA officials are in league with the drug dealers and starts research against Dretzke's advice.
  • Die Musterknaben 2 (1999): Phil Collins is on tour in Germany. A tabloid journalist gets the tip that Collins regularly visits a Cologne brothel . In order to gain access to the scene , she makes advances to the two model boys, who promptly become jealous competitors for the reporter's favor. Docker's and Dretzke's attempts to pretend to be sovereign city commissioners end in chaos .
  • Die Musterknaben 3 - 1000 und ein Nacht (2003): Docker is supposed todoublean Indian Maharajah and falls in love with the nanny of his son.

DVD

A double DVD box of the first two episodes is available, which contains not only the films but also music videos and some background information. The third episode is available both individually on DVD and in the 3-DVD box with the other episodes. In the DVD version of the third episode, large parts of the soundtrack have been exchanged compared to the TV broadcasts on ZDF and 3sat. Well-known songs such as B. 'Türlich,' Türlich (Safe, Dicker) by Das Bo , Cruisen by Massive Töne or One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head have been replaced by other music on the DVD.

Soundtrack

For the first part of the Musterknaben there is a 1998 soundtrack on CD (BMG Ariola, Munich) with music by the groups Die Coolen Säue , Jam & Spoon , Fettes Brot and others.

commercial

For the introduction of the new VW Crafter transporter, some humorous TV spots were shot with the two model boy actors in Barcelona, ​​Spain , in which Tarrach and Korittke can be seen as workers who experience the special qualities of the new VW model in everyday work. Ralf Huettner was also the director. The spots come from the production company Bakery Films and were created under the direction of the Hamburg agency MKK. They ran on Sat.1 , ARD and RTL , among others .

Awards

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the first part of 1997 the rating valuable.

Web links