TV tip
“Flunkyball” – Ode to love and a drinking game
Franz (Laurids Schürmann) and Zoe (Lena Klenke) kiss in the club. photo
© Luis Zeno Kuhn/BR/Hager Moss Film GmbH/dpa
With “Flunkyball” the first is showing an unusual film this Wednesday: a declaration of love to a Munich away from the Oktoberfest and the English Garden – and to a legendary drinking game.
A son who would like to no longer be an outsider and is looking for one girlfriend longs. A daughter who feels overlooked in the family, a pair of parents who would like to be relaxed and cool – and a young woman who can read all four of them as if they were open books. This Wednesday (8:15 p.m.) the first is showing a very unusual film, “Flunkyball.”
It begins with two mothers jogging on the outskirts of Munich, one of whom is bragging about how many girls her son has had in bed – apparently knowing that the other is worried because her boy isn’t doing well with the girls . The competition between mothers apparently goes far beyond the sandbox and elementary school.
Then the camera accompanies one of the mothers into her home: Caro (Silke Bodenbender) would like to talk to her husband Martin (Fabian Hinrichs) in peace about her son Franz (Laurids Schürmann) and his interpersonal problems – but he brushes off her worries.
Franz, in love, wants to help
The next morning, Martin, who acts so nice, manipulates his children until they agree to take care of their grandma (Lisa Kreuzer), who has to go to the hospital. There Franz has a momentous encounter: The shy 17-year-old meets Zoe (Lena Klenke) – and is blown away by the pretty girl.
She tells him about problems with the family, about the fact that she can no longer live at home and about her brother’s drug escapades. Franz, in love, wants to help and takes her home with him. There his relieved parents toast the fact that their son – as they believe – is finally having a girl and sex – and they too are immediately smitten with Zoe.
Zoe also effortlessly wraps Franz’s sister Millie (Clara Vogt), who seems so tough but probably feels completely neglected, around her finger. But is she really who she claims to be?
Origin on the flat land?
Director and screenwriter Alexander Adolph named his film after the drinking game “Flunkyball”. It has been played by young people in parks all over German cities for several years. But – at least that’s what the Emslanders say – it originated decades ago in the flat countryside of Lower Saxony.
In the film, the game, which only appears in one scene, becomes a symbol of the desire to belong to the group and not to step out of line. It is one of director Adolph’s strong production ideas. But the good ideas here – as well as the sometimes strong performances of the actors – are far too isolated, do not form a well-rounded whole, and too often the question remains open as to why the characters behave the way they do.
But the film will always remain in your memory – also because it is not only an ode to a drinking game, but also to a Munich that the average Oktoberfest visitor doesn’t know at all.