Movie Review: "Fack ju Göhte" (2013)Since the first two mega-blasts at the German box office with more than 7.5 Million admissions in summer 1985 with "Otto-Der Film" directed by Xavier Schwarzenberger, who had been cinematographer for legendary German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) for mini-series "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1980), and the Summer-of-2001 releasing "Der Schuh des Manitu" directed and also-acted by Michael Herbig, comes this non-stop menacing young adult comedy of ex-con-man Zeki Müller, portrayed by German shooting star Elyas M'Barek, who together with actress Karoline Herfurth, known for the character of The Plum Girl in Tom Tykwer directed "Perfume: Story of a Murderer" (2006), ignite fireworks as rascaling teachers at a German high-school, bringing order in chaotic, constant trick-or-treat playing classes of teenage-day-dreaming of the ultimate escapology into party or stardom to avoid anything but down-to-earth labor, when this 115-minute-movie produced by Christian Berger based on a uplifting, come-as-you-are attitudes-sharing as well as insights in German society of the juvenile pushing screenplay by also-directing Bora Dagtekin, who then avoids major camera movements for stag-angling visuals under elevator music and comic sound design in digital add-ons of ultra-eye-popping colors in cliché production design interiors through a never-mind plot of a table-dancing-girlfriend-kissing, small-time criminal Zeki turning for a teaching job without any references, but character-ruling, speed-dialing editorial scenes towards a wishfully-happy, minor suspense-given teacher-on-teacher relationship surrounded by faithful school-boys and girls.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

I am German but I usually don't watch German movies. However, I really love Fack ju Göthe. It's a clever and funny movie about how German teenagers of the lower social classes are often perceived by Germans. It plays with all the stereotypes we Germans have about teenagers whose parents are immigrants, on welfare, alcoholics etc. Not only the language used but also the names of the characters portray this very well - both are a reflection of German reality, not made-up for entertainment. I laughed tears throughout the whole movie but I also cried, and then I laughed and cried at the same time. Would watch it over and over again. 10/10

As far as I know, FJG was the most successful German movie of the last few years - I can really not understand why this movie is so popular.The plot, or more like the idea behind the plot, was adopted nearly 100% from the 1999 American movie 'Blue streak'; and I'm saying this though I have seen BS only once, and approximately 7 years ago. It even seems like they haven't tried to modify it at all. The only adjustment was made regarding the context of the protagonist's work place (= the place where his 'treasure' was hidden) - but probably only for the purpose of connecting this idea to the stale and often (like in this case) uninspired genre of high school movies. Watching the beginning (first ~15 min) of both movies and comparing them would be quite funny.'Funny' is the right keyword: Many people recommended this movie to me because it was "so funny, witty, etc". It isn't. At all. Very shallow humour combined with some shoddy pseudo ghetto slang - That's it. Besides there are so many irritating characters (especially among the students).In addition to that, the message of the movie (if there is one; I tried my best to find it) is highly questionable in my opinion: Again this "everyone can reach everything and everyone is something special if you give them attention, bla bla"-bulls.hit. NO. Simply no. Not all students are equally intelligent, but one is of course not allowed to voice this today. (This is btw a great example of how the German education system works nowadays)It may also be that I missinterpreted the message, because it may as well be a simple plot mistake that the extremely dumb and annoying girl (hearing her slang and voice was a torment) is considered 'highly gifted' at the end of the movie. WTF? Really?Then there is the f.ucking usual love story according to the f.ucking usual scheme and thus extremely f.ucking predictable.This whole story is so far-fetched, the movie lacks any level and the acting is (apart from Karoline Herfurth and to a lesser extent Elyas M'Barek) between run-off-the-mill and annoying.To sum it up, I have really no f.ucking clue, why anyone would think this movie is at least average or even above. I think I have to re-consider my friendship to the people that recommended watching it to me. (just joking, but seriously...) I'd really have to think back to when I waited for the end of a movie this yearningly the last time.P.S.: Farid Bang appeared in this movie - That says it all. (For the other Germans who - probably unintentionally - know him)

Handsome rascal Zeki Müller has just been released after serving 13 months on the inside, but now everything seems to be going his way: All he has to do is dig up his loot so that he and his stripper friend can elope on an endless holiday of snorting coke and getting breast implants (her, not him). Unfortunately, the squalid containers of Goethe Comprehensive School now stands where he once buried his stash. Yadda yadda, and the old reprobate ends up as a sub teacher in the dysfunctional school with square-but-cute (her nerd glasses barely conceal that she's a smouldering sexual vulcano) colleague Lisi Schnabelstedt, trying to come to grips with his dysfunctional pupils. In the end, bad boy gets girl, discovers his heart of gold, and becomes teacher with an edge. Never mind the plot, though, because it's just a vessel for a lot of zany teacher-student-scenes and the übercampy love story. And since many of the scenes and dialogues with the students are fast and witty, I can benignly pardon the fact that the love affair plot is far more reactionary and clearly less quirky than in the writer-director's previous smash hit "Türkisch für Anfäger" (at one point, Lisi's sassy girlfriend advises her to lose the glasses or she'll never get laid).I ususally don't like Katja Riemann, but she really delivers an outstanding performance here (compared to the lukewarm efforts of M'Barek and Herfurth) as the cynical principal, and Uschi Glass reprises her "Lümmel von der ersten Bank" days as a worn-out teacher.