Johnny Flash
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Johnny Flash |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1987 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Werner Nekes |
| script | Peter Ritz , Werner Nekes |
| production | Werner Nekes |
| music | Helge Schneider |
| camera | Bernd Upnmoor , Serge Roman |
| cut | Astrid Nicklaus |
| occupation | |
| |
Johnny Flash is a film by the German experimental filmmaker Werner Nekes , which was released in 1987.
action
The unemployed electrician Jürgen Potzkothen lives with his mother and dreams of a career as a pop singer . When he introduces himself to the artist agent Terrence Toi with a demo tape, he - rather by chance - is hired and given the stage name Johnny Flash . At the same time, however, the music editor Cornelia Dohm would like to hire him for her music show. In the ensuing competition between the music agents, the naive Jürgen becomes the plaything of commercial interests. Ultimately, however, the vocal performance organized by Toi gave him the big breakthrough in a hit hit parade. He becomes a big star overnight, while Cornelia Dohm is trampled by enthusiasts.
History of origin
The film was made with the simplest means and improvised dialogues at original locations in the city center of Mülheim an der Ruhr.
Many roles in the film were cast by the same actor, be it for cost or artistic reasons. So was Andreas Kunze , the possibility of a total of nine roles u. a. As a mother, artist agent, optician, gentlemen's outfitter, savings bank employee etc. to show a broad spectrum of acting. The star of the film, however, is Helge Schneider , who was still relatively unknown at the time. As the aspiring pop singer Jürgen Potzkothen, he uses parts of his own biography in the film. Schneider also contributed the music, even becoming Johnny Flash himself, a tendency that he continued on his first album, His Greatest Successes . Schneider still has songs from Johnny Flash in his repertoire today .
On the occasion of the funeral of actor Andreas Kunze on April 19, 2010, Werner Nekes showed excerpts with alternative scenes in which Helge Schneider and Andreas Kunze had switched roles.
reception
For the film critic, Johnny Flash became a problem of classification. The film is completely different from other works by Werner Nekes, who is otherwise mainly in the field of experimental film. Because even if the film cannot be denied an experimental character (the design could be described as alternative, and some trick-technical gimmicks such as multiple exposures are included), it is clearly influenced by commercial cinema. The rising artist plot is a commonly used one in Hollywood. The simple, in places simply silly plot makes one look in vain for a deeper meta-level. However, to be a genre parody , Johnny Flash is again staged too seriously. Helge Schneider reports in his autobiography that there was a great will to professionalism and an almost overwhelming seriousness on the set. There is also a certain homeland aspect, as most of the scenes were filmed in identifiable real locations in Mülheim and Gelsenkirchen . The film was often referred to as a " Ruhrgebiet film".
Johnny Flash impresses with the great authenticity of its actors, but is at the same time characterized by unrestrained digging into film clichés, in parts clearly laid out comedic and hopelessly flat. It is precisely this contradiction that makes it so attractive.
Although shown only briefly in a few cinemas and commercially unsuccessful, Johnny Flash became a legend, especially among fans of Helge Schneider. In Schneider's own films there are many stylistic echoes of Johnny Flash , who thus becomes a kind of archetype of a new kind of German film. In the 1995 film 00 Schneider - The Hunt for Nihil Baxter , Schneider even gave a guest appearance for the role of Johnny Flash ; There is also another allusion to Johnny Flash in this film in the statement of the circus clown Metulskie that he should have listened better to his mother and become a pop singer. Nevertheless, Johnny Flash is unique in the director's oeuvre as well as in the German film landscape, which is probably what makes the cult around him.
Reviews
- “ As usual, Johnny Flash from 1986 impresses with absurd humor, delicious amateur actors and the best tailor-made musical interludes. Director Werner Nekes guides you through this charming Ruhrpott dance show, which due to its mediocre quality of craftsmanship will only appeal to die-hard Schneider fans. But there are many of them. "(VideoWoche)