Die for beginners

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Movie
German title Die for beginners
Original title Death at a funeral
Country of production UK , Germany , USA
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 12
Rod
Director Frank Oz
script Dean Craig
production Share Stallings ,
Laurence Malkin ,
Diana Phillips
music Murray Gold
camera Oliver Curtis
cut Beverley Mills
occupation

Dying for Beginners (Original title: Death at a Funeral ) is a British comedy film from 2007. It was directed by Frank Oz, known as the " Muppets Creator" . The script was written by Dean Craig and the cast includes a. a. Matthew MacFadyen , Rupert Graves , Ewen Bremner and Alan Tudyk . Die für Beginners celebrated its German premiere at the 2007 Berlinale . In Germany, the film opened regularly in cinemas on July 19, 2007. The film describes how a funeral service sinks more and more into chaos.

action

The funeral service for Daniel's father begins under bad omen. The undertakers first lay up a false corpse. After the right one is in the house, further complications become apparent. Daniel's wife, Jane, urges him to contact the bank because they are moving out of the house and moving into their own apartment.

Other mourners also have problems to solve on the way to the funeral service. So Martha, the niece of the deceased, and her fiancé Simon Martha's brother have to pick up Troy. After Simon almost had an accident, Martha first handed him a Valium tablet at Troy's pharmacy student . However, she doesn't know that the pill box isn't Valium, but Troy's latest drug mix. The effect is already noticeable on the way to the funeral service. Howard is annoyed because his friend Justin only comes to the party because he is hoping for new opportunities with her after a one-night stand with Martha. On the way, Daniel calls him to pick up Uncle Alfie (who is in a wheelchair) from his old people's home.

Daniel's brother Robert, who flew first class from New York, claims he couldn't pay half of the funeral expenses because he was broke. The mourners also firmly expect that Robert, the successful novelist, will give the funeral speech, and is almost disappointed that this task has fallen to Daniel. This in turn increases Daniel's nervousness. Even a short mourning guest whom nobody knows worries him.

When all the guests are finally there, the funeral begins. Daniel's speech begins, as expected, very boring. Meanwhile, Simon begins to hallucinate and says the coffin is moving. He throws himself on the coffin; the latter falls on the ground and the body of the deceased lands at the widow's feet.

Simon runs into the garden; Martha and Troy follow him to calm him down. Troy loses the said pill box in the garden. Suddenly Simon gets sick and storms back into the house to throw up in the toilet. He locks himself in there and Martha tries for a long time in front of the door to get him to open the door. Justin tries to get close to Martha during this time; she tells him what she thinks.

The short man introduces himself as Peter and asks Daniel for a private talk. In his late father's study, he shows him photos that show him together with his father. The photos show that the two had a homosexual relationship. Peter demands 15,000 pounds of hush money and threatens to otherwise show the photos to the mourners. Daniel brings his brother Robert for a consultation; After looking at the photos, Robert realizes that his father apparently had a homosexual affair. They meet up with Peter in the study. After the latter has also made derogatory comments about Daniel's attempts at a novel, Daniel refuses to write the check for the £ 15,000. Peter then wants to leave the study to show the other mourners the photos; Robert lunges at him and ties him up together with his brother.

In the meantime, Howard has found the pill box in the garden and has taken it for himself. Looking for Daniel, he bursts into the study and sees Daniel and Robert fighting with Peter. He remembers the supposed Valium pills and gives Peter five of them.

Now, of all times, Uncle Alfie urgently needs to go to the bathroom, and the only one accessible to him is behind the study. Peter is tied up and gagged and hidden behind the sofa and Howard takes Uncle Alfie to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Simon climbed naked on the roof of the house in a drug intoxication, much to the irritation of the mourning society. Martha's father in particular is not enthusiastic about it. Martha continues to try to get the situation under control, but is still harassed by Justin, who kisses her against her will. Simon sees this and climbs higher on the roof to throw himself down.

The hypochondriac Howard has been tainted by Uncle Alfie's excrement. In the study, the drug mix now also works with Peter and he hops around wildly on the sofa. His head falls against the tabletop and remains motionless. While Howard is holding up the pastor, Daniel and Robert bring the supposedly dead Peter into the living room and put him in the coffin with the deceased father.

On the roof, Martha reveals to her Simon that she is pregnant by him. She manages to persuade him to come back from the roof and get dressed. Howard remembers that he left Uncle Alfie in the bathroom; he frees him from his predicament. Everything seems to be fine again; the clergyman continues the funeral service. While Daniel begins his funeral speech again, one suddenly hears knocking noises from the coffin. Then the coffin lid flips up and Peter jumps out of the coffin. He loses the photos in the process; these fall at the widow's feet. She pounces on Peter angrily. In the midst of this turmoil, Daniel raises his voice and gives a short, fiery speech to his father that touches everyone.

In the evening Daniel talks to Robert, who has decided to take his mother with him to New York. Jane arrives and says that her mother has calmed down and that Uncle Alfie will soon be calm too, since she gave him two Valium. In the short final scene, Uncle Alfie is sitting naked on the roof of the house.

background

Die For Beginners was filmed at Ealing Studios in London and Poynatts Manor in Skirmett, Buckinghamshire . The shooting lasted seven weeks. The budget of the film was to 9 million US dollar appreciated. The film celebrated its world premiere on February 10, 2007 at the Berlinale 2007 . Further screenings followed at various film festivals. The film was shown in German cinemas from July 19, 2007. The film opened in the United States on August 17, 2007. In the United Kingdom, the film was shown in cinemas from November 2, 2007. On the opening weekend, the film grossed over $ 1.2 million and totaled over $ 8.5 million. In the UK, just under £ 700,000 were taken in at the opening weekend , and over £ 2.7 million in total. Over 90,000 visitors were counted at the German box office.

Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes , who play the film couple Daniel and Jane, have been married in real life since 2004. Alan Tudyk and Peter Dinklage were the only US actors. Alan Tudyk reported that the idea for the nude scene in which he is sitting on the roof of a house came to him through memories of his youth, when he saw an intoxicated youth sitting naked on a picnic table. Originally, the role that was given to Peter Dinklage was not planned as a short stature. After the role was assigned, the script was rewritten accordingly.

In 2010, a remake was released with Die Will Learn To Be . Both films bear the original title Death at a Funeral and Peter Dinklage can be seen in both films .

criticism

The Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden writes in its justification: “This black English comedy made by an American is washed with all the waters of the genre. A perfect script, reliable dramaturgy, absurd ideas, disciplined actors and a chamber-play setting make the hours before a funeral a diaphragmatic adventure full of crazy punchlines. And yet, as the culmination of the carefully constructed film, the dignity of the dead is preserved. "

In TV digital issue 15 of July 13, 2007, Ulrike Schröder wrote that Frank Oz had staged a tragedy in a class of its own with typical English humor. The film is really shocking, especially for the audience's diaphragm. A pitch-black farce.

The lexicon of the international film judged: “The sly comedy paints the picture of a British two-class society of eccentrics and philistines, whereby it doses its black humor punchlines carefully. Thanks to the convincing actors and the skilful direction, the film skilfully circumnavigates the shallows of the script. "

Critic.de wrote: "Anyone who has no problem with a film that devotes itself entirely to entertaining entertainment instead of ambiguous humor and a laugh that gets stuck in the throat will get their money's worth with Die for Beginners ."

Awards

The film was awarded the title “particularly valuable” by the Wiesbaden film evaluation office . The film was awarded the audience award at the 60th Locarno Film Festival . Die For Beginners also received the audience award at the US Comedy Arts Festival .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for dying for beginners . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2007 (PDF; test number: 110 395 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for dying for beginners . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Background information according to the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ a b c d budget and box office results according to the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ a b c d e Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ a b Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden: Justification for predicate
  8. ↑ Die for Beginners. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  9. ↑ Film review on Critic.de
  10. ↑ a b Nominations and awards according to the Internet Movie Database