Schultze Gets the Blues (2003) Reviews

• The Perfect Film

  sael-22005-03-26

  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.

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• Many subtle layers

  thutton-22005-04-17

  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.

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• Slow, not boring

  Vox_Pops2004-05-10

  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.

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• A Gem

  Timmie422005-09-12

  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.

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• Your patience will be rewarded

  willyboy19732004-05-11

  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).

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