comedy
Christoph Maria Herbst in the wedding chaos
Christoph Maria Herbst as a wedding planner in a scene from the film “A Celebration for Life”. photo
© Conny Klein/Warner Bros. Entertainment GmbH/dpa
In “A Celebration for Life” the actor Christoph Maria Herbst once again shows his comedic skills combined with depth. He is a wedding planner for whom everything is getting out of control.
The actor is married to his wife Gisi Christoph Maria celebrated in the fall of 2012 in a small circle. “I would like to devote myself to my guests at a party,” explains Herbst (57) to the German Press Agency in Hamburg. In general, he prefers four to six guests when he invites – so he prefers to celebrate more often.
“Not so much” is the Grimme Prize winner’s clear answer to the question of whether he likes the effort he has to put in as wedding planner Dieter in the comedy “A Festival for Life”. Based on the script and directed by Richard Huber (“Tatort”), the film, which also stars other prominent actors, will be released in cinemas on Thursday (October 19th).
50 employees, some of whom are dressed in baroque minion costumes, 150 dressed-up guests, an opulent meal, huge fireworks – and all of this against the magnificent backdrop of Ehreshoven Castle in the Bergisches Land. The extroverted groom Lasse (Ulrich Brandhoff) wants to impress his future wife Leonie (Mira Benser) and the rest of the world. But then what can only go wrong goes wrong. Although Dieter, who he hired, makes every effort and keeps folding up his often arguing employees, there is a power outage that causes most of the prepared food to go to waste and leads to completely wrong music under the stubborn bandleader Steve (Marc Hosemann, “Sophia , death and me”).
In addition, his helper Florian (Johannes Allmayer, “The Wannsee Conference”) is once again passionate about his old love, the bride. And the sloppily dressed photographer (Jörg Schüttauf), who sometimes disappears into the bushes with the bride’s mother, nibbles at the buffet instead of taking pictures for eternity. With all this, the experienced Dieter is increasingly losing his nerve. And when his wife tells him by phone that she not only wants to get away from him, but also already has another partner, he looks forward to the offer to buy his company from someone he still doesn’t know. However, he initially thinks the interested party who appears is a financial auditor – and immediately admits to various illegal workers from Syria.
Long johns for night shoots
If the whole thing sounds familiar: The tumultuous story is a remake of the French cinematic work “Life is a Celebration” (2017) by the “Pretty Best Friends” makers Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano. Herbst saw the film at the time, but didn’t watch it again during his preparation. “I wanted to play my own wedding planner,” he tells dpa. He particularly enjoyed filming. “I come from the area, from Oberberg, but I didn’t know the castle at all and became a big fan of this location. It’s always great when you get to film in such a pleasant atmosphere. And the castle is now one of the main players in what’s happening,” said the main actor.
And adds: “But it was also exhausting, because of the temperatures. We had three weeks of night shooting – so it can be pretty wet and cold. When I stood there with my Budapest shoes on the grass that was damp at night… . I can clearly remember wearing long johns in many scenes.” He also enjoyed being part of such a large ensemble. “Richard Huber proved that he was a good tamer. He looked after this bag of fleas well – and met everyone at eye level. There were also 80 to 100 extras. Plus, it was still in the middle of Corona times. So we were really dealing with a lot of imponderables.”
Herbst, the multiple award-winning actor and comedy performer, manages to sensitively portray a man in an existentially difficult phase in the midst of the chaotic events caused by the script. “Right from the start he’s not the best version of himself,” says the 57-year-old. “He is in a life, work and creative crisis. And he pulls the ripcord. The script plays with breaks and the breaking of expectations. It is comedy, but with a melancholic veneer.” So the film is definitely enough for an evening of entertainment with a little thought.
A celebration of life, Germany 2023, 101 minutes, FSK 0, by Richard Huber, with Christoph Maria Herbst, Cynthia Micas, Marc Hosemann.