When it's at its best

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Movie
Original title When it's at its best
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2013
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Johannes Fabrick
script Astrid Ruppert
music Christoph Zirngibl
camera Helmut Pirnat
cut Sandy Saffeels
occupation

When it's at its best is a German television film by Johannes Fabrick from 2013 , which was produced on behalf of ZDF . Heino Ferch and Max Hegewald play the main roles .

action

When Peter's father celebrates his 75th birthday, Lukas and his ex-wife Sabine suddenly stand in front of him. After separating from his wife, Peter had no contact with his son for ten years. Since he is not a particularly family person, he has not tried to maintain the relationship between father and son all these years. The domestic quarrels between him, his wife and their son still bother him today. With Peter, surprise does not meet with love. He feels taken by surprise by his family, who once again only meant well. He leaves the family celebration as soon as he has arrived and spends the evening with his girlfriend Hanna. Nevertheless, the encounter with his son makes him thoughtful. The next day he wants to call him to speak to him again, but his ex-wife immediately blocks. When his father wants to tell his conscience about finally reconciling the family, Peter becomes even more angry, especially since he is annoyed about his reaction that day. He writes Lukas a letter, asks his forgiveness and invites him to come to Hamburg.

Lukas is skeptical, but also curious, and so he starts the journey. While Peter is visibly happy to finally see his son again and hopefully get to know him again, Lukas is now the one who shows bitterly how much he is disappointed in his father that he has not looked after him for all these years. He is allegedly not interested in the reasons his father has for this. That's why Peter gets the advice from his girlfriend to just listen to what he has to say and what moves him. In this way their conversations, which are very monosyllabic at first, develop and Peter is amazed at Lukas interests and hobbies. He notices that both are more similar in character than he thought. In particular, that his son plays the piano and wants to study music after graduating from high school makes him proud. He even got him piano lessons from a renowned pianist. Peter now remembers the early years with Lukas, how he had made breakfast for him every morning and spent time with him. Peter literally comes to life and enjoys being together in which he also includes Hanna. Lukas asks his father why he left him then and now hears that this had nothing to do with him, but only with his mother and because he did not want his son to be always sad after his visits, he would have her then set.

Peter has not told anyone that he has a serious health problem and has recently been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia . When Lukas happened to find the counseling documents, he angrily approached his father because he had to assume that he only "lured" him to himself because he needed him as a stem cell donor. Without hesitation, Lukas packs his things and takes the next train home. Luke does not want to hear Peter's explanation that this was not his intention, but that he really only wanted to get to know him. Because of his disappointment, he doesn't want to play the piano anymore.

Peter is bitter too, about himself and the whole situation. He has resolved not to accept any help from his family because he wants to deal with all of this with himself. Lukas mother immediately notices her son that something is wrong and when he tells her that his father would soon die, she persuades him to come back to him. She even drives him to Hamburg so that he can be with his father. She had realized how much she had punished her son just because she didn't want Peter to play a role in her life.

Back in Hamburg, his father is visibly happy to see his son again. When he reassures him that he does not want to accept a stem cell donation, he has to hear from Lukas that this would be typical for him again. He would withdraw again and give no one a chance, because he hadn’t even told his girlfriend about the fatal diagnosis. Lukas is so disappointed to have to lose his newly found father again that he hits Peter. After this outburst of anger, they both start talking again and Lukas convinces his father to accept him as a donor if his values ​​should fit. But they don't fit. Peter now wants to spend the little time he has left with his son and Hanna. He doesn't want to wait for his strength to wane either, but rather to leave when it is most beautiful . He has already made contact with Switzerland . For his 50th birthday he invites his whole family and Peter enjoys the last time together.

In the final shot you see Lukas granting his father's wish and throwing his ashes from a lighthouse into the sea.

background

When it is at its best, the film was shot from April 4, 2013 to May 7, 2013 in and around Hamburg . Film GmbH and A. Pictures Film & TV.Productions GmbH were responsible for the film.

reception

Audience rating

When it was first broadcast on ZDF on September 15, 2014, the television film When it is Most Beautiful reached an average of 4.35 million viewers, which corresponds to 14.4 percent of the market share in Germany.

criticism

Rainer Tittelbach from Tittelbach.tv rated: “'When it's at its best' tells a double father-son story. A 50-year-old has still not swum free from his overpowering father. His 18-year-old son is more suffering. After eight years of radio silence, the two get closer. But they don't have much time ... The story tells of living and dying in a state of maximum self-determination, it shows family in all its emotional facets, and it brings up the possible alienation between the child and one of the parents after their separation. Just as Ruppert unobtrusively weaves the problem areas into one another, Fabrick finds a visual language and a narrative rhythm that leaves the viewer a lot of freedom. "

For Kino.de , Tilmann P. Gangloff judged : The director “doesn't shy away from staging great emotions, but gets by without melodrama. It has a lot to do with the conduct of the actors. In view of the enormous emotionality that every story about death harbors, the credibility of the acting is all the more important; wrong tones or exaggerated facial expressions can destroy the fragile effect in an instant. The challenge for Heino Ferch was correspondingly great. "

Heike Hupertz from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said: “'When it's at its most beautiful' is a melodrama without embarrassment.” “The way Heino Ferch and Max Hegewald play this cautious approach between two disabled family members is unparalleled and is made by Helmut Pirnat through the camera work also visually highly emotional, but at the same time simple and clear. Father and son also discover themselves in each other. And grow up, just like Peter's ex-wife. ”“ In the end, and that is a great, but not the only merit of Astrid Ruppert's script, the film refrains from taking stock. The set design (Thilo Mengler) very successfully defines the different milieus, each with their own values. "

For the critics of the television magazine TV Spielfilm , When it's at its best was "a painful TV experience in the best sense". They gave the film the best possible rating by pointing their thumbs up.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See presseportal.de
  2. ↑ See crewunited.de
  3. ↑ a b Ferch, Hegewald, Koschitz, Ruppert, Fabrick. But heaven can't wait ... at Tittelbach.tv , accessed on August 30, 2020.
  4. ↑ Review of the film at Kino.de , accessed on August 30, 2020.
  5. ↑ Heike Hupertz: Father always leaves the field at faz.net , accessed on August 30, 2020.
  6. ↑ See tvspielfilm.de