"Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot" or "Grave Decisions" is a German 100-minute movie from almost 10 years ago. It is the first full feature film by Marcus H. Rosenmüller and also his most famous work to this day. In the center of it, we have an 11-year-old boy whose mother died when he was born. As a consequence of this, he blames himself and tries to find out if he is really responsible for killing people. This sounds pretty serious, but this film is really more of a (sometimes dark) comedy than a drama movie. Rosenmüller included many funny scenes to make this a lighter watch I guess, but in my opinion it is not working, because the comedy in here feels forced from start to finish, just like I said to make this a lighter watch. But it almost never feels authentic or genuinely funny. One of the worst scenes is probably when we see and hear the protagonist at the supermarket. For no real reason, he confesses also his other sins and his dad completely out of nowhere starts attacking another guy who was just standing around, a complete stranger. This also worked against the intention of the filmmakers to make the father look likable from start to finish.Sometimes this film also has love story elements when the boy's dad falls in love with his son's teacher. Unfortunately, none of their scenes have any real emotion attached to them, but are just poor flesh lust and strange meetings during nighttime. Of course, right at this meeting they get caught by the children. And still we are supposed to believe this is true love, in contrast to the marriage that the teacher has been in for a while. Some very weird scenes in here. The film's biggest weakness is probably the writing. It's a usual case of black-and-white character with little depth and no shades at all. Do not be fooled by this film's high IMDb rating or all the awards attention it got, came in second behind "Four Minutes" at the German Film Awards that year. This is not a good film at all, neither funny nor dramatically convincing. if you still want to watch it, you may even need a set of subtitles as a German native speaker as the Bavarian accents in here are very thick. But why would you? You''re not missing much. Not recommended.

Far better than expected and thinking this might be another overrated film by IMDb's users, I searched for more feedback and realized after watching it yesterday the film is superbly innocent but also cares for children's education and character building, never stealing their perspective nor viewer's mature (hopefully) intelligence.The movie deals with serious subjects, such as mothers death after birth (and death itself), the role of fatherhood and certainly with guilt, denial and conformity.Sebastian Schneider is simply one of the most self-identifiable characters, in many dimensions, and everyone is bounded to be attracted towards his "grave-yard" decisions. No one will scape death and therefore this film reminds us the importance of being present as best as possible in every moment we can. I shut my eyes and think Bread and Tulips, another small gem with Bruno Ganz, which gives the same feel, although not as funny as Grave Decisions (good English title but far from the original).The script is flawless and jaw-cracking. The cast is perfect, from supporting till main roles. All scenes constantly build the mood and the story of the film (there goes editing!), as a great orchestra performing a Beethoven's classical. So try to watch this marvelous enlightening film without too many distractions, just relax and enjoy the ride because the major goal of the film is really to communicate, and believe me, there are positive results in this exchange of feelings which will keep one's company for, I believe, quite some time.

Full 10 points, would have loved to give 11. Not only the most enjoyable German movie of the year, but in general the most enjoyable movie I have seen in a long time. Contents: Take a child's fantasy, take Bavarian Catholicism, and watch a series of hilarious events unfold from this combination. If you are – such as me - German but not from Bavaria, be sure to take also a South German friend with you in order to translate the punch lines you have been missing due to dialect. If you come over this movie out of Germany, don't miss out on the fun – you're even luckier because you will most probably be watching a subtitled version. I am sure you don't have to be German in order to like this movie, because religion - and all those strange blossoms which it may spread - are truly international. Last but not least: If you're German and the rabbit from „Nach 5 im Urwald" made you laugh – here's more :-)

I was a little wary of this movie, German comedy is often too shallow and unimaginative. But Rosenmüller went the other way instead, choosing to make a deliberately whacky and funnily dark movie about a kid seeking immortality to escape eternal punishment for his mother's death. That's a great concept, the movie plays it for what it's worth and the Bavarian setting in all it's strangeness helps a lot. For me, there is a problem, though: the leading role. Finding a 11-year old who can act is hard, I personally can think of only one or two movies with boys figuring prominently that they didn't sink. Girls seem to do a better job of it somehow. Anyway, Markus Krojer is no exception to the rule. His acting is wooden, he barely seems to be able to act his role rather than himself (or at least it seems like that. Never met him.) He's just a kid, so no blame there, but it hurts the movie.Fundamentally, Bavarian comedy is an exception from the "Germans have no sense of humor"-rule. At their best, they live up to the Brits. "Wer früher stirbt..." is proof of that once again.