Schtonk! (1992)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Helmut Dietl

Writers:

Helmut Dietl (writer)
Ulrich Limmer (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 March 1992 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Der Film zum Buch vom Führer

Plot:

Fritz is a falsifier drawing a picture of Eva Braun, the girlfriend of Adolf Hitler. He meets Hermann...

Plot Keywords:

Hitler | Female Nudity | Nude Model | Spoof | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Götz George	...	Hermann Willié
Uwe Ochsenknecht	...	Fritz Knobel
Christiane Hörbiger	...	Freya von Hepp
Rolf Hoppe	...	Karl Lentz
Dagmar Manzel	...	Biggi
Veronica Ferres	...	Martha
Ulrich Mühe	...	Dr. Wieland
Martin Benrath	...	Uwe Esser
Hermann Lause	...	Kurt Glück
Karl Schönböck	...	Professor Strasser
Rosemarie Fendel	...	Mrs. Lentz
Georg Marischka	...	Von Klantz
Thomas Holtzmann	...	Notary Cornelius
Hark Bohm	...	Catholic pastor
Willy Harlander	...	Bavarian customs officer

Also Known As:

Schtonk - salat julki! (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:6 (f) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Alsterarkaden, Hamburg, Germany

Company:

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Trivia:

Mario Adorf wanted to play in this movie, preferably the role of Hermann Willié, which went to Götz George, or the role of Fritz Knobel, which went to Uwe Ochsenknecht. Adorf later admitted that he had been offended for a few years, that Helmut Dietl didn't cast him in any role.

Movie Connections:

References The Great Dictator (1940)

Soundtrack:

Bride's Chorus from Lohengrin

Schtink!

A horribly heavy-handed attempt to turn the real-life case of the forged Hitler diaries into a German comedy (a contradiction in terms, if you ask me, and I am German), this schtinker is an unabashedly broad, strictly one-note stab at what director Dietl probably takes for satire. Based on a pedestrian script which provides no laughs at all (except if you're a die-hard fan of fart jokes, that is), it features sleazy, grotesquely over-the-top performances by basically everyone involved (although George and Ochsenknecht stand out as particularly hammy), ugly, much too bright photography and an unnervingly blaring score. Dietl not only proves that he has no sense of timing whatsoever - each and every punchline can be seen coming round the bend a mile away and is milked to the last drop when it finally arrives - but also displays a disturbingly childish penchant for "dirty" words which, quite obviously, he thinks are funny by themselves. To top it all off, at nearly two hours running time, the whole affair is so interminably drawn out it'll bore you to near-death. Avoid at any cost - and please do yourself a favor and give Dietl's other films (especially "Late Show" and "Rossini") a very wide berth, too: they're even worse.