Toni Erdmann (2016)

A parent never stops worrying about their child, never stops taking care of them. That's the thesis behind Toni Erdmann, the German-Austrian film about a man who goes on a quest to connect with and then save his adult daughter who appears to be going through the motions of adulthood without connecting to anything or anyone.

Winifred is a "character," the kind of often thinks they are more fun then they are. He means well but his approach is awkward. Inspired by the death of his dog he goes off in search of his "successful" business woman daughter and inserts himself into her life. She, in her own awkward, unable to connect way, reaches back but it isn't until he creates a new character to play in her life that they start to have a relationship again.

What is notable here is that even that relationship isn't completely cohesive. Erdmann doesn't attempt to find that Hallmark moment where daughter and father connect, finding what each one is missing. Well not really. The film goes to great lengths to make sure that even that is terribly awkward. The beauty here, the thing I believe audiences are responding to, is that essential awkwardness. The climax of the film has to be an office party which Ines decides will be naked, making everyone completely uncomfortable only to have her father show up in what can only be described as a bargain basement wookie costume. She chases him down across town in her robe to hug him. That is the moment of catharsis Toni Erdmann strives for.

And Erdmann makes us wait for it.  The tension is what makes the payoff work and so director Maren Ade stretches her film out, shooting long scenes with little action and often meaningless dialogue. It's clear what she's doing there, we are looking for meaning in a grey, empty landscape. She plays into this, not in a way that's not watchable, but in a way that baits us. The pay off is also somewhat understated. Again this is the point. It's not the kind of film which will leave you cheering. It is more to get in touch with that feeling of emptiness.

And in that emptiness there is a bit of a smile. Peter Simonischek and Sandra Huller are charming in a fumbled sort of way and you do leave feeling they have reached a certain peace with themselves and perhaps we can share in that peace a bit too despite how disconnected our lives may be at any given time.

Toni Erdmann
Starring: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Huller
Director: Maren Ade
Writer: Maren Ade