David O'ConnellWHISKY WITH VODKA @ The Festival of German Films
April 12th 2010 04:33
When the behaviour of the great Otto Kullberg (Henry Hubchen), an actor adored by the public, becomes increasingly erratic, director Martin Telleck (Sylvester Groth) finds himself caught between a rock and hard place. Otto seems to be on his last legs, a lifetime of alcohol abuse nipping at his heels, but to preserve the integrity of his production Telleck would like to push on. His producer has other ideas however, insisting the crew shoots the rest of the film twice in case everything goes belly up – once with Otto and again with his stand-in, Arno Runge (Markus Hering), a formidable stage actor who has never performed before a camera. It’s a difficult time for all on set, but with an old flame of Otto’s, Bettina (Corinna Harfouch) - now married to Telleck - playing one of his love interests in the new production, an implied history begins to intrude, colouring Otto’s waywardness with the pull of strained allegiances.
Hubchen is deceptively good in Whisky with Vodka, the latest from veteran director Andreas Dresen, convincing us to both despise and feel pity for Otto, sometimes in the same scene. Though a sense of an inflated perception of Otto slowly emerges, in terms of the esteem he’s held in by the public, he’s generally a difficult subject to feel empathy for, unhelpfully reacting out of spite and pettiness. He views the drafting in of Arno as a monstrous personal insult but though he mostly treats the newcomer with derision you get the impression it’s nothing personal. This is later re-emphasised as the film’s production nears its conclusion; Otto confides in Arno before inviting him out for a night of reckless unwinding. Cynically we could ask whether his intention is to lure Arno into a compromising position. Or is the inevitable attention-drawing fracas that follows just a by-product of them dropping their guards to momentarily let down their hair?
Hering makes for an interesting counterpoint to Hubchen's staunch portrayal. A more than competent performer capable of filling Otto’s shoes like a true professional, Arno appears perennially disheveled and a little unhinged off-set with his frizzy Gene Wilder hair. Harfouch is equally good as the wounded Bettina, an immaculate professional persisting in a less-than-loving marriage and whose heart has seemingly been iced over by Otto, and presumably, men just like him. Groth is a standout as the director whose labors to bring his story to the screen are being thwarted from all sides. Plotting against every contingency he tries to balance a room full of egos before, time and again, finding himself knocked off stride.
In snatches, a tender, humane part of Otto emerges from beneath the alcoholic, embittered, womanising persona. He watches his dying father with a lovingly silent gaze, noticing how his shoes bear a similar wear and tear shape. In recalling this tiny detail he assures Arno that “we’re never as original as we think we are”. It’s a good line, and one of many in Wolfgang Kohlhaase’s screenplay which manages to broach many subjects in a bitterly humourous way. It provides interest as a film about filmmaking itself, giving intimate insights into the creative process whilst adding poignant and valid reflections on aging, the effect of a long life on the human body, and professional jealousy; things that, in taking their toll, pose a genuine risk to our reputation and, more especially, our dignity - the thing we’d most like to retain in old age but risk losing first. Though no masterpiece, Whisky with Vodka, amid its farcical situations and melodramatic asides, has moments of perfect clarity that make it well worth watching.
The Festival of German Films begins from April 21 across Australia.
Trailer here.
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