Erkan & Stefan against the forces of darkness
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Erkan & Stefan against the forces of darkness |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Axel Sand |
| script | Günter Knarr , Stefan Lust , Erkan Maria Moosleitner , Philipp Weinges |
| production | Mischa Hofmann , Philip Voges , Bernd Eichinger |
| music | Ralf Wengenmayr |
| camera | Stephan Schuh |
| cut | Jochen Retter |
| occupation | |
| |
Erkan and Stefan - Against the Forces of Darkness is a film by director Axel Sand , shot in 2001 in Germany. It is the comedy duo's second film after Erkan & Stefan .
The film is about the conflict between Kartan, a sinister sorcerer, and the fighter Tana, who describes herself as the “guardian of the good”. Erkan and Stefan get into a conflict between the two, but can save the world from evil in their slapstick.
action
A long time ago, Kartan tried in Mesopotamia to kill the oriental, mystically graceful Tana with the magic dagger in order to secure world domination. He failed, instead Tana was able to slip into the dagger, which was lost until the dawn of the 21st century.
The film begins with Kartan being able to acquire the dagger after a long search through cunning. The dagger should finally enable him, with a bloody ritual, to subjugate mankind of this world to his dark rule forever.
Kartan transports the dagger in his flight baggage, and so it happens that Erkan, who works together with Stefan as a luggage driver at Munich Airport, takes the dagger and slips a cheap Far Eastern copy onto Kartan, not knowing what this blade is about has.
A little later, with the false dagger, Kartan opens the ceremony that Tana is supposed to awaken from the dagger and perform his gruesome ritual. But instead, the magic now works on the dagger, which is in Erkan's possession when he is trying out his latest acquisition with Stefan - a video game with a “bunny-pull-yourself-out-button”.
Tana wakes up from the dagger and first lunges at Erkan and Stefan, because she suspects Kartan in one of them. When the apartment is kind of dead and it is clear that neither of the two is Kartan, she sets off as the guardian of goodness on the mission assigned to her to track down Kartan and destroy it. Since she has missed the changes of the last thousands of years, it is extremely difficult for her to orientate herself in the modern world. But through the tempting offer of a night of love, Erkan and Stefan are quickly ready to help her with the necessary know-how, to protect her and to stop Kartan.
However, Erkan and Stefan don't know where to start looking. Since Tana makes a confused claim about a place where the evil forces come together, the two think that it is Ms. Schmächtig's anti-aggression training, in which she and some serious criminals participate. Equipped with the car of Stefan's brother Horst and pursued by two killers of the cult of Kartan, they set out there and cause a huge mess there, but they can also escape that way.
However, Kartan is waiting in front of the building and attacks Erkan, Stefan and Tana. Tana can defend herself from the attack and take Kartan off for the time being, but she is hit in the arm by a graze and collapses. Erkan and Stefan can escape with her and take care of her medically in Erkan's apartment. There they see a television report about the Necronomicon , which is to be exhibited on Munich's Marienplatz . To kill Tana, Kartan needs the book. Therefore, Erkan and Stefan decide to get the book, but to defeat the sorcerer, they need the power of will, which they have at their disposal but which they cannot control.
But Kartan manages to deceive Erkan and Stefan by pretending to be Trixie, who they both rave about. With Tana's dagger they go to a nearby discotheque, where they are treated like VIPs. However, when only Erkan is ensnared by Trixie and another woman, Stefan becomes jealous and wants to save the world on his own. When he gets the dagger, Trixie and girlfriend start to ensnare Stefan, which is why Erkan and Stephan start arguing.
In all the chaos, they fail to notice that Tana has been left unprotected in Erkan's apartment, which the Kartan's killers use to stun and kidnap Tana with a stun gun . Erkan and Stefan notice this too late after their reconciliation, but they know where Tana is being held. Armed with kebab skewers and fake holy water (which will turn out to be corrosive acid), they make their way to Marienplatz. In the back of their minds they have the advice of their grandfather that they should never use someone else's kebab skewer and that they should be honest with each other.
With a lot of luck, the two manage to turn off the guards and the two killers and get to Tana, who waits tied to an altar for rescue. But happiness ends when Kartan and the cult surprise the two and take them prisoner for their part. Nothing seems to be able to save Tana from certain death, since her life depends on Erkan and Stefan. To thrust the dagger into Kartan's heart, they must overcome their pride and make numerous confessions so as not to keep secrets from each other. However, this works, and with the power of their will they manage to kill Kartan, free Tana and smash the sect.
Tana is very grateful to both of them and is ready to spend a night of love with Erkan and Stefan. But since they cannot overcome their pride again and each want to celebrate this night of love individually, there is an hour-long argument in which Tana falls asleep alone.
background
The film was shot in Munich . It was shown in cinemas in Germany and Switzerland on June 20, 2002, and one day later in Austria. On May 19, 2003 the film was shown at the Cannes International Film Festival .
While shooting the film, John Friedmann got to know his partner, the actress Bettina Zimmermann.
The film contains several movie quotes , the initial discovery of the dagger recalls the rock chamber at " Indiana Jones ", the golden book plays on The Mummy , while the martial arts scenes that used bullet time effect and the virtual reality an Reference to " Matrix " are.
Reviews
In the Internet Movie Database , the film received an average of just 3.9 out of 10 possible points. On Moviepilot , the audience even rated it with just 2.7 out of 10 possible points. With this poor response, Moviepilot placed him in fourth place among the biggest "flops of the 2000s", only undercut by the films Daniel, der Zauberer , Die Maske 2 and Far Cry and on the list of "10 worst German comedies" third place led.
Johannes Pietsch from Filmstarts.de states that the directorial debutant Axel Sand "promptly set this inevitable sequel [...] of the debilitating duet into the same". Bettina Zimmermann is certified as having a "negative talent", and the scriptwriters, whose "mental state" is questioned, do not receive good reviews from Johannes Pietsch. The “virtual reality idea” is “pretty much the only good joke in the film”, which however “is handled as a painfully endless running gag”. The "embarrassingly flat» Matrix «persiflage" as well as "an abundantly superfluous cameo from Corinna Harfouch as therapist" round off Pietsch's overall impression. This excruciatingly pointless prime example of humorous underground construction drags itself from one bold brontal scene zero to the next humor overkill, which is why Pietsch awarded the film two out of five possible points.
The editors of the Lexicon of International Films judge that Erkan & Stefan against the forces of darkness is a “second cinema vehicle for comedians Erkan and Stefan, whose humor is on the same flat level as the first film and whose staging is halfway comical even with the few Gags fail ”.
Awards
In 2002 Philip Voges was nominated for the German Comedy Award as the producer of the best movie comedy and Bettina Zimmermann as the best comedian in a supporting role . In 2003 Bettina Zimmermann won the New Faces Award .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ a b Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Two Ingolstadters with" blatant "careers" ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Donaukurier, Stefan König, May 19, 2005
- ↑ Internet Movie Database : Ratings , accessed October 5, 2013
- ↑ Moviepilot : Ratings , accessed October 5, 2013
- ↑ Moviepilot : Your Charts: Your Flops of the 2000s , Ines Walk, June 26, 2012, accessed on October 27, 2013
- ↑ Moviepilot : Your worst German comedies since 2001 , Christoph Dederichs, October 20, 2012, accessed on October 27, 2013
- ↑ Filmstarts : Filmkritik , Johannes Pietsch, accessed on October 5, 2013
- ↑ Erkan & Stefan against the forces of darkness. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 2, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Nominations and awards according to the Internet Movie Database
