I don't know if this will get much of a release in the UK and US, but I saw this in the week and enjoyed it a lot. It was shortlisted for the Palme d'Or and it's Germany's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.
So Winfried Conradi is a failing piano teacher (whose only student has just quit), obsessed with practical jokes, whose dog has died. This spurs him to try and reconnect with his estranged, career-obsessed daughter Ines, who is stationed in Romania.
At first he turns up on her doorstep, with predictably bad results, only later—after donning a cheap wig and false teeth—to become 'Toni Erdmann', self-styled life coach (and occasionally German ambassador). His subsequent gatecrashing of his daughters environment leads to increasingly absurdist situations, balanced against the equally absurd world of management consultants.
It's pretty long, but it strikes a perfect balance between sentimentality, absurdity and pathos. There are three particular scenes (I won't spoil them) that are properly laugh-out-loud funny. The two leads are terrific.
So Winfried Conradi is a failing piano teacher (whose only student has just quit), obsessed with practical jokes, whose dog has died. This spurs him to try and reconnect with his estranged, career-obsessed daughter Ines, who is stationed in Romania.
At first he turns up on her doorstep, with predictably bad results, only later—after donning a cheap wig and false teeth—to become 'Toni Erdmann', self-styled life coach (and occasionally German ambassador). His subsequent gatecrashing of his daughters environment leads to increasingly absurdist situations, balanced against the equally absurd world of management consultants.
It's pretty long, but it strikes a perfect balance between sentimentality, absurdity and pathos. There are three particular scenes (I won't spoil them) that are properly laugh-out-loud funny. The two leads are terrific.
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