64 reviews
Great filming, deep message,
- DonkeyBreath
- Mar 28, 2005
- Permalink
Beautiful photographs in motion, warm & quirky story
If you liked STRANGER THAN PARADISE (1984) or BAGDAD CAFE (1988) or enjoy the stunning color photos of Joel Meyerowitz, you have the qualifications necessary to enjoy SCHULTZE GETS THE BLUES. True, it's somewhat slow, but its slowness allows the willing viewer to appreciate the subtly perfect ways the characters move within the mostly static compositions Michael Schorr serves up. True, it's quirky and has a sudden and unsettling if ultimately lyrical ending, but like the two films mentioned above, it gives us a splendid "outsider" view of America that makes us appreciate unique qualities we might otherwise overlook. Its humor is filled with love for the differences which make us human. Come to think of it, anybody who's watched NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004) more than once might well enjoy SCHULTZE's journey, too. Join him for the trip.
- mintonmedia
- Apr 1, 2005
- Permalink
Blues Worth Getting
The Perfect Film
I saw this movie last night, and I was blown away. It is a very simple film, with stunning visuals, and ironic, understated, and appropriate dialog. Schultze, the main character, is a quiet, lonely, aging German man. Horst Krause played the part amazingly honestly. I never once felt like any of the characters were acting, especially Schultze. The writer and director, Michael Schorr, enables the viewer to feel Schultze's emotions and to care for him without ever really trying. It was almost as if I was seeing the world through Schultze's eyes, and feeling emotions through him, rather than being told what he was feeling, or being shown what he was seeing. This film is also a great comparison of American and German culture. It was interesting as an American to see my home portrayed from a German point of view, and I believe this film gives a uniquely appropriate portrayal of German life as well. This film is one of the best I have ever seen. It made me feel a range of emotions, it dazzled my ears with Zydeco music, and most of all, it made me truly care. I left the theater with an amazing feeling, like I had just had a experienced something truly special. I cannot believe this is Michael Schorr's first feature film. It was truly perfect.
About Schmidt in German -
First things first: You will need a lot of patience while watching "Schultze gets the blues". There are no dramatic scenes, no sensational turns or something that blows you out of your seat. Instead, the film develops slowly, working merely with pictures than with dialogues. And this is what it's all about: the boredom of retirement, the concealed longing for something new and the desperate hope of getting the "blues". Schultze, the main actor,tries to seek it by playing a tune he heard on the radio on his accordion, which leads him from Sachsen-Anhalt (in the former East Germany, DDR) to a music festival in Texas. This film is definitely worth watching, although it won't satisfy your desire for action or a surprising plot.
It's never too late to find happiness.
This is a 2003 German film that recently found it's way to my local video store. It is a different film than I usually find, very plain on the surface, yet incredibly complex at the same time. It tells a simple story in a very understated way and the overall effect is quite powerful.
Schultze is a recently retired miner, a hard working man that now finds a lot of time on his hands and not much else. His mother is in a nursing home with dementia, his only family his mates from work who like to share a glass of beer when they get the chance. The imagery in this film is stark and dramatic. The long pauses tempt you to reach for the fast forward button, but they create the emptiness you will understand about Schultze's life. His only bright spot is his accordion, and his membership in the local music club which is celebrating their 50th anniversary. This year they offer a special prize, an expense paid trip to Texas. The club received an invitation from their "sister city" to send one person to their annual German-American festival. The winner will be selected at their Anniversary concert, "may we put you down for your usual polka Schultze?" As the story slowly unfolds, you may begin to see the threads that weave this beautiful tapestry. Or they may be so subtle that they go past you like a line on the sidewalk that you step over everyday. In the end, you will hopefully get the message about going out and finding happiness wherever you can.
Schultze is a recently retired miner, a hard working man that now finds a lot of time on his hands and not much else. His mother is in a nursing home with dementia, his only family his mates from work who like to share a glass of beer when they get the chance. The imagery in this film is stark and dramatic. The long pauses tempt you to reach for the fast forward button, but they create the emptiness you will understand about Schultze's life. His only bright spot is his accordion, and his membership in the local music club which is celebrating their 50th anniversary. This year they offer a special prize, an expense paid trip to Texas. The club received an invitation from their "sister city" to send one person to their annual German-American festival. The winner will be selected at their Anniversary concert, "may we put you down for your usual polka Schultze?" As the story slowly unfolds, you may begin to see the threads that weave this beautiful tapestry. Or they may be so subtle that they go past you like a line on the sidewalk that you step over everyday. In the end, you will hopefully get the message about going out and finding happiness wherever you can.
- acrisisblog
- Jan 8, 2006
- Permalink
Many subtle layers
I loved this movie. First of all there's the surface. Schultze is just so goddammed lovable. He pulls you in. Then there are the layers. And there are so many.
The juxtapositions. Schultze riding his bicycle on one side of the screen and the dirt bikers buzzing over the top of slag heaps on the other. His small garden house, a little Eden, overshadowed, of course, by a very large and nearly ancient slag heap.
Then the odd wanderlust. The woman at his mother's nursing home who insists she's French despite the fact that she's in a nursing home in East Germany. Followed by his sojourn to Louisiana, which insists on being French despite the fact that it's in America. Did he go there looking for her?
Then the premonitions. Early on a brief sound bite on the radio about lung cancer. Then near the end, he's offered a meal of crabs in the bayou. "Ja, Krebs," he says. Krebs means cancer in German. And he was a miner, so worked every day breathing radon. Did he have cancer?
And of course the music. An accordionist who plays the local polka, he picks up zydeco by ear and loves it. But his fellow Germans don't like it, and they're even less interested in the US. In fact he stops playing after he gets to America. They want polka even more than the Germans do, albeit a strange American kind that includes yodeling.
Then the unspoken. So much of this story is told by pictures, not dialog. It's a subtlety that Hollywood has completely lost touch with. It's so refreshing to see it again.
This movie is a delight. I defy anyone to dislike it. There's something of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in it, but it's not quite that facile.
It's a quiet tour de force. I want more.
The juxtapositions. Schultze riding his bicycle on one side of the screen and the dirt bikers buzzing over the top of slag heaps on the other. His small garden house, a little Eden, overshadowed, of course, by a very large and nearly ancient slag heap.
Then the odd wanderlust. The woman at his mother's nursing home who insists she's French despite the fact that she's in a nursing home in East Germany. Followed by his sojourn to Louisiana, which insists on being French despite the fact that it's in America. Did he go there looking for her?
Then the premonitions. Early on a brief sound bite on the radio about lung cancer. Then near the end, he's offered a meal of crabs in the bayou. "Ja, Krebs," he says. Krebs means cancer in German. And he was a miner, so worked every day breathing radon. Did he have cancer?
And of course the music. An accordionist who plays the local polka, he picks up zydeco by ear and loves it. But his fellow Germans don't like it, and they're even less interested in the US. In fact he stops playing after he gets to America. They want polka even more than the Germans do, albeit a strange American kind that includes yodeling.
Then the unspoken. So much of this story is told by pictures, not dialog. It's a subtlety that Hollywood has completely lost touch with. It's so refreshing to see it again.
This movie is a delight. I defy anyone to dislike it. There's something of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in it, but it's not quite that facile.
It's a quiet tour de force. I want more.
Gentle Though Overlong Character Study of a Retired German Salt Miner's Zydeco Obsession
Slow, not boring
This movie takes its time to develop. In more than one respect it reminded me of a Kaurismäki film. The landscape is depressing, the colors are not very bright, the shots are long and there is not much dialogue. And people seem only to come alive (whether it's in Germany or the US) when they're making music. There are moments of comedy but not many. Instead, you get to watch "everyday life" for a long time before something happens. And when it happens, it's not a dramatic turn or twist . . . It does not incite the characters to change completely . . . There is just a small change.
When you put all of this together, you get a very touching tale of humanity. A tale of friendship and loneliness. I think the characters are portrayed in a very life-like fashion (for example, when the loner Schultze travels to the US he is no more capable of socially connecting with people than he was in his hometown). You have to be patient with the story because there is no classic structure (exposition, story development, climax) . . . but I got really attached to the characters. There is a lot of loneliness in this film. But this is what makes it so attractive.
When you put all of this together, you get a very touching tale of humanity. A tale of friendship and loneliness. I think the characters are portrayed in a very life-like fashion (for example, when the loner Schultze travels to the US he is no more capable of socially connecting with people than he was in his hometown). You have to be patient with the story because there is no classic structure (exposition, story development, climax) . . . but I got really attached to the characters. There is a lot of loneliness in this film. But this is what makes it so attractive.
A fine movie for those who like small, quirky films with unusual and appealing lead characters
Come ready with the putty to fill the gaps...
Your patience will be rewarded
Calling this movie boring misses the point. Many people aren't used to really *watch* films, i.e. read the pictures. This films' pictures speak such a humourous and humanist language that dialogue is simply not needed. They tell you how important it is to live your dream - even if it's only the small dream of an elderly, not very handsome or clever man. Schultze is just not the type who speaks a lot - his story is worthy to be told nevertheless.
I laughed a lot seeing this, it also touched me. Great camera work, the film really trusts the power of pictures. To me it's the best German movie of 2004 so far (and I've seen "Gegen die Wand", which I liked very much).
I laughed a lot seeing this, it also touched me. Great camera work, the film really trusts the power of pictures. To me it's the best German movie of 2004 so far (and I've seen "Gegen die Wand", which I liked very much).
- willyboy1973
- May 10, 2004
- Permalink
The Power of Music To Save the Soul - from Bavaria to Louisiana
"Schultze Gets the Blues" is like a German "Straight Story" crossed with the Lou Reed lyric "couldn't believe what (he) heard at all . . . (his) life was saved by rock 'n' roll" though here it's a folk music revelation for a guy literally laid off from a salt mine who is saved.
Here, the power of music that reaches through the speakers and speaks directly to him in the heart of traditional Bavaria is the zydeco music of the Louisiana bayous. Like the obsessed Blues Brothers on a mission from God, he is powerfully drawn to the source.
Leisurely paced, there are frequent shots of modern windmills that keep emphasizing how quixotic his quest is, though he is surrounded by equally eccentric people with dreams, such as a waitress who wants to dance "ole," a friend's son seeking a motorcycle championship, a nursing home resident who longs to gamble at a casino and a railroad gate operator who spouts poetry.
The various physical landscapes figure almost as much as the music as the camera sweeps over the home and away environments Schultze explores, though it's more than a bit fantastical as I'm not sure his travels are geographically possible.
Much of the leisurely paced film is of the one simplistic joke per scene variety around the dumpy figure of Horst Krause as Schultze in incongruous situations or activities, but overall it is charming, especially due to the natural, open-hearted characters he disarmingly meets up with everywhere.
Seeing him play a zydeco tune at an Oktoberfest is very similar to the bluegrass performers in the Finnish movie "Man Without A Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä)." While "The Commitments" made a stronger case for cross-cultural empathy in why the Irish could perform African-American soul music, ethnomusicologist Nick Spitzer of the public radio American Routes show would be delighted at how the movie weaves a story while affectionately and amusingly tracing the accordion from the Bavarian polka through Czech immigrants to Tex Mex music to the Cajun descendants of the French Arcadians and on to the creole amalgamation that is zydeco.
Here, the power of music that reaches through the speakers and speaks directly to him in the heart of traditional Bavaria is the zydeco music of the Louisiana bayous. Like the obsessed Blues Brothers on a mission from God, he is powerfully drawn to the source.
Leisurely paced, there are frequent shots of modern windmills that keep emphasizing how quixotic his quest is, though he is surrounded by equally eccentric people with dreams, such as a waitress who wants to dance "ole," a friend's son seeking a motorcycle championship, a nursing home resident who longs to gamble at a casino and a railroad gate operator who spouts poetry.
The various physical landscapes figure almost as much as the music as the camera sweeps over the home and away environments Schultze explores, though it's more than a bit fantastical as I'm not sure his travels are geographically possible.
Much of the leisurely paced film is of the one simplistic joke per scene variety around the dumpy figure of Horst Krause as Schultze in incongruous situations or activities, but overall it is charming, especially due to the natural, open-hearted characters he disarmingly meets up with everywhere.
Seeing him play a zydeco tune at an Oktoberfest is very similar to the bluegrass performers in the Finnish movie "Man Without A Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä)." While "The Commitments" made a stronger case for cross-cultural empathy in why the Irish could perform African-American soul music, ethnomusicologist Nick Spitzer of the public radio American Routes show would be delighted at how the movie weaves a story while affectionately and amusingly tracing the accordion from the Bavarian polka through Czech immigrants to Tex Mex music to the Cajun descendants of the French Arcadians and on to the creole amalgamation that is zydeco.
Boredom, Suffering, Death
- klendathu-prime
- Nov 20, 2004
- Permalink
A Gem
A beautiful spark of a movie that had me quietly laughing throughout. Definitely worth the watch if you're in the mood for a slow, sublime, and funny film that rewards you tenfold.
Schultze is a quiet man, recently retired, who suddenly discovers the beauty of zydeco music. It has the feeling invoked by films such as "Paris, Texas", "Broken Flowers", with it's characters that pass in and out of the protagonist's life, living in their own world, yet wanting to be part of something bigger. Schultze takes that leap of faith in the simple way of pursuing the music that has finally touched his soul.
Some people might find it much too slow. The camera lingers on many long shots of subtle hilarity, emphasizing the humor in the sometimes mundane existence people experience.
One of the better films I've seen in a while.
Schultze is a quiet man, recently retired, who suddenly discovers the beauty of zydeco music. It has the feeling invoked by films such as "Paris, Texas", "Broken Flowers", with it's characters that pass in and out of the protagonist's life, living in their own world, yet wanting to be part of something bigger. Schultze takes that leap of faith in the simple way of pursuing the music that has finally touched his soul.
Some people might find it much too slow. The camera lingers on many long shots of subtle hilarity, emphasizing the humor in the sometimes mundane existence people experience.
One of the better films I've seen in a while.
Slow, but worth watching
Wunderbar!
Sehr gut! This wonderful slice of life and comment on Thoreau's observation of people "living lives of quiet desperation," is so well done, it leaves me reflecting on it long after having seen it. Schultzie, a retired miner, who plays the accordion and hangs out with his at-loose-ends friends, hears some zydeco one night on the radio and starts to play it. He doesn't even know the name of the tune and certainly has no cultural connections with the music but he plays after hearing it once and extends his experience playing polkas to incorporate this new rhythm and beat into his playing. He does it with such a nonchalance and earnest commitment that he even takes him by surprise. The scene where he plays his new found music with his fellow burghers is amazing. His friends rally to his support while the more traditionalists object to this "nigger music." The whole film is a series of embroidered vignettes of still shots which are pasted on the wall with the characters moving slowly across them. The pace is slow and there are lots of gaps but that only adds to the charm of this delightful little film. It is full of sentiment without becoming sentimental, poignant but never maudlin and lingers long in the memory.
Dry, funny, patient film
Often during this little film I thought "It's Herzog's "Stroszek" WITHOUT the dark pessimism!" Three guys work buddies retire from the gold mines in Germany. They're lower middle class, average workin' Johanns. That's all. Schultze isn't GOOD on the accordion, but his friends enjoy his playing polkas. One evening Schultze stumbles across the radio dial, and hears American South Zydeco music. It's interesting and exotic to him. He MUST go to the coastal Southeast of the United States! Since he's retired, what's holding him back? Well, his German conservative lower middle class routine, THAT'S what! Then
things change. His small town sends him as THEIR representative of all that is fine and oom-pah-pah in beloved Germany. This dry, funny, patient film asks you to relax into it, and accept things as they are. The photography beautifully composed, and uses static framing throughout the time in Germany, and only on rare occasion does the camera move in America
as Schultze stumble-explores the new world. He sends Polaroids back to his pals. They're not sure what to make of them. THEY'VE never been to the U.S., and certainly not seen some of the things depicted. Schultze meets a few people as he travels. He sees, smells, tastes, hears, and feels what he does. He's living.
Form Dictating Content
Can't call this a story, when there really isn't one. Hard to call it a character study, either, when Krause's Schultze barely exists as a sketch.
What's interesting here is the stance of the camera eye. The actors are inseparable from the composition, the cuts are mostly static, at a measured distance. You can count on one hand the number of times the camera pans, to the right when playing accordion in Germany, to the left when dancing in the U.S.
The 'storyline' is only there to maintain rigidity to the cinematic form. The camera compositions follow the content...monochrome, inert, exact, just as we know or imagine East Germany.
Some pleasant moments with the bickering Prussian vs. the Saxon as they debate what Krause sees, equal to what we see.
Some visual irony matching the story's implied irony.
What's interesting here is the stance of the camera eye. The actors are inseparable from the composition, the cuts are mostly static, at a measured distance. You can count on one hand the number of times the camera pans, to the right when playing accordion in Germany, to the left when dancing in the U.S.
The 'storyline' is only there to maintain rigidity to the cinematic form. The camera compositions follow the content...monochrome, inert, exact, just as we know or imagine East Germany.
Some pleasant moments with the bickering Prussian vs. the Saxon as they debate what Krause sees, equal to what we see.
Some visual irony matching the story's implied irony.
A brand new life after retirement
Schultze, a middle-age early retired German miner always had played polkas with his accordion. Even his father played polkas before him. Now he's retired and there's not much to do in his new boring life. Just eating alone, drinking beer with his friends and playing the accordion. But one night he listens to an exciting music on the radio: a cajun melody and he can not help to play it since that moment. He has found a new meaning to his new life. Comedy, drama, tenderness and a little music on this touching German movie. When I was watching it I couldn't get rid of the thought I was watching the real image of Peter Griffin, the main character of the cartoon series "A Family Guy". "Schultze Gets the Blues" has been awarded as the best movie in the 41th Gijón International Film Festival and its director, Michael Schorr was the best director as well. And I must say both of them were deserved.
- davidcarbajales
- Dec 1, 2003
- Permalink
wrong kind of accordion
Schultze plays a "piano accordion", standard for German music. Most Cajun music is played on a different style instrument. The Cajun accordion, like a harmonica, plays a different note depending on whether you push or pull. It has buttons on both sides, not keys on the right side. I don't think the accordion used in the movie could produce the sounds we hear. To me, Schultze's playing is jarring throughout the movie, completely unconvincing. It was good that the camera avoids showing his right hand as much as possible. He simply could not have learned the several lines of that song on the radio as quickly as he seems to have. So much else in the movie is authentic and Schorr talks about authenticity in his comments. Why couldn't they get this part right?
Slave to the form
Absurdism and minimalism are the basic ingredients for this one. It reminded me of Sånger från andra våningen / Songs from the Second Floor in composition and of Bagdad Cafe in storyline. Not much is said in this movie. Schultze leads a simple life after (and before) retirement with his two co-workers and friends. All events and actions happen around him; he has almost no influence on them or disapproval. There's a railway worker commenting the story, but he inexplicably disappears from the movie at some point.
Shots are almost all static with the action revolving in and around the frame. Many shots have a rigid, symmetric composition with many distant shots (When Schultze has a near-collision with a tanker, we see this only in a small part of the right upper corner of the screen).
The movie plays with stereotypes about Germans and Americans of each other. When Schultze is stuck with his boat in Louisiana he thinks the police will arrest him instead of help. American-German immigrants have a strange and watered-down view of life in Germany.
The whole idea is that Schultze breaks out of his own life by discovering blues music. But in contrast this movie ends up being a slave of its own form, therefore oddly the content is the reverse of the form.
Shots are almost all static with the action revolving in and around the frame. Many shots have a rigid, symmetric composition with many distant shots (When Schultze has a near-collision with a tanker, we see this only in a small part of the right upper corner of the screen).
The movie plays with stereotypes about Germans and Americans of each other. When Schultze is stuck with his boat in Louisiana he thinks the police will arrest him instead of help. American-German immigrants have a strange and watered-down view of life in Germany.
The whole idea is that Schultze breaks out of his own life by discovering blues music. But in contrast this movie ends up being a slave of its own form, therefore oddly the content is the reverse of the form.
Rambling and slow, but strangely moving.
- rmax304823
- Sep 4, 2006
- Permalink
Moments of humor and poignancy in a SLOW movie
I started out assuming I would love this one. I too am obsessive about music. I too adore the idea of expanding one's horizons. And I am very partial to slow films with great photography (such as Barry Lyndon, Three Seasons, The Terrorist). Finally, I thought I would SO identify with Schultze that the movie would be a guaranteed winner.
Ah, I was disappointed. This would make a touching 45-minute PBS drama, but the static inaction (am I repeating myself?) gets exasperating. There are moments of great power (such as the rehearsal scene at home, or his performance at the 50th anniversary dinner). But these are fleeting moments in a tableau of glum inaction.
Was this really a movie? Was it really acted? It has so much of the feel of interminable home movies, I wanted to offer to edit them.
In my opinion, the only chapters you need are 3, then skip to 5 to the end. You can figure out the rest, and save yourself 35+ minutes.
Ah, I was disappointed. This would make a touching 45-minute PBS drama, but the static inaction (am I repeating myself?) gets exasperating. There are moments of great power (such as the rehearsal scene at home, or his performance at the 50th anniversary dinner). But these are fleeting moments in a tableau of glum inaction.
Was this really a movie? Was it really acted? It has so much of the feel of interminable home movies, I wanted to offer to edit them.
In my opinion, the only chapters you need are 3, then skip to 5 to the end. You can figure out the rest, and save yourself 35+ minutes.
No redeeming qualities