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Toni Erdmann

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Toni Erdmann
File:Toni Erdmann.jpg
Film poster
Directed byMaren Ade
Written byMaren Ade
Produced by
  • Maren Ade
  • Jonas Dornbach
  • Janine Jackowski
Starring
CinematographyPatrick Orth
Edited byHeike Parplies
Music byPatrick Veigel
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • NFP Marketing & Distribution (Germany)
  • Filmladen (Austria)
Release dates
  • 14 May 2016 (2016-05-14) (Cannes)
  • 14 July 2016 (2016-07-14) (Germany)
  • 15 July 2016 (2016-07-15) (Austria)
Running time
162 minutes
Countries
Languages
  • German
  • English
  • Romanian
Box office$7.1 million[3]

Toni Erdmann is a 2016 German-Austrian comedy drama film directed, written and co-produced by Maren Ade. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[4][5] It was selected as the German submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.[6]

Plot

Winfried Conradi is a divorced music teacher, an old-age hippie of sorts, with a passion for bizarre pranks involving several fake persona. Over the bereavement of his dog, he decides to reconnect with his daughter Ines, who is pursuing a career in business consulting and is currently posted in Bucharest, Romania, where she works on an outsourcing project in the oil industry.

Winfried travels to Bucharest and waits for Ines in the lobby of an office complex. After several hours, she finally appears, accompanied by several of her client's board members and on the way to a meeting. Winfried puts on his wig and fake teeth that he usually wears while playing pranks, and approaches her from the side while hiding behind a newspaper. Ines completely ignores her father, but picks him up in the lobby after her meeting and takes him to a luxurious hotel.

In the evening, Winfried accompanies Ines to an business lounge, where they meet Mr. Henneberg, the oil company's German CEO. While Ines desperately tries to gain Mr. Hennebergs attention, Winfried and Mr. Henneberg easily connect when Winfried tells him that he has now hired a replacement daughter, as his actual daughter is constantly too busy. To Ines' horror, Mr. Henneberg insists that Winfried joins for dinner.

After several days, father and daughter have still not found a connection; instead Winfried is deeply alienated by the life his daughter leads and he apparently departs. However, after several days, when Ines is having dinner with two of her girlfriends, their party is suddenly approached by Winfried, who wears a wig and fake teeth and introduces himself as Mr. Toni Erdmann, business consultant and coach. He starts an exhilarating conversation with the two ladies, who are impressed by his distinct style, worldly manners and alleged connections to Bucharest's business elite. Ines decides to play along and starts exposing her life to "Mr. Erdmann". More and more, Winfried learns that Ines leads a sad and lonely life of excessive career ambitions, anonymous sex and even drug abuse, and he starts to genuinely worry about her.

To cheer her up, Winfried takes Ines to a Easter-Egg painting party of an acquaintance, where he introduces himself as the German ambassador and his daughter as his secretary and assistant, Ms. Schnuck. Upon leaving, Winfried announces that to show their gratitude towards their hosts, they will perform a song and persuades Ines to perform Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All. Initially timid, Ines' performance becomes more and more aggressive, and she finally rushes off.

Back at her place, Ines is supposed to host a business brunch to celebrate her birthday. When she fails to close the zip of her dress while the doorbell rings, she decides to open the door naked and claims that she'll have a naked brunch, thereby alienating her colleagues and her boss.

Several months later, one learns that Ines has quit her former company and instead joined McKinsey & Company in Singapore.

Cast

  • Peter Simonischek as Winfried Conradi / Toni Erdmann
  • Sandra Hüller as Ines Conradi
  • Lucy Russell as Steph
  • Michael Wittenborn as Henneberg
  • Thomas Loibl as Gerald
  • Trystan Pütter as Tim
  • Hadewych Minis as Tatjana
  • Ingrid Bisu as Anca
  • Vlad Ivanov as Illiescu
  • Victoria Cocias as Flavia

Development

The character of Winfried was loosely based on Ade's own father who wore a pair of fake teeth she gave him as a gag gift to play practical jokes.[7]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.[4][5] The film was originally accepted into the less prestigious Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The night before the press conference in April Ade and her producer received an email that the film had been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or.[8] Shortly after, Sony Pictures Classics and Soda Pictures acquired U.S, Latin American and UK distribution rights to the film, respectively.[9][10]

The film went onto screen at the Filmfest München on 23 June 2016.[11] Sydney Film Festival on 15 June 2016.[12] Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on 3 July 2016.[13] Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2016.[14] Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2016.[15][16] New York Film Festival on 2 October 2016.[17][18] and the BFI London Film Festival on 8 October 2016.[19]

The film was released in Germany on 14 July 2016.[20] Austria on 15 July 2016.[21] and in Switzerland on 21 July 2016.[22] The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on 25 December 2016.[23]

Critical reception

Toni Erdmann received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 93% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Toni Erdmann pairs carefully constructed, three-dimensional characters in a tenderly funny character study that's both genuinely moving and impressively ambitious."[24] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 93 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[25]

Awards and nominations

The film received the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film In Competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[26]

In August 2016, the film won the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)'s Grand Prix for best film of the year, and making it the first time this accolade has been awarded to a female filmmaker.[27][28]

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref(s)
Brussels Film Festival 24 June 2016 Golden Iris Award Maren Ade Won [29]
RTBF TV Prize for Best Film Maren Ade Won
Best Screenplay Award Maren Ade Won
Cannes Film Festival 21 May 2016 FIPRESCI Award Maren Ade Won [26]
22 May 2016 Palme d'Or Maren Ade Nominated
Palić Film Festival 22 July 2016 Golden Tower for Best Film Maren Ade Won [30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Lodge, Guy (13 May 2016). "Film Review: 'Toni Erdmann'". Variety. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. ^ "'Toni Erdmann': Cannes Review". Screen International.
  3. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "2016 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup". IndieWire. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Cannes 2016: Film Festival Unveils Official Selection Lineup". Variety. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  6. ^ Roxborough, Scott (25 August 2016). "Oscars: Germany Selects 'Toni Erdmann' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  7. ^ Roxborough, Scott. "Cannes: 'Toni Erdmann' Director Maren Ade Wants a Subsidy Quota for Women Filmmakers (Q&A)". Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  8. ^ Etienne, Sorin. "Maren Ade: "Mon père n'est jamais allé aussi loin que Toni Erdmann"". Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  9. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (15 May 2016). "Sony Pictures Classics Buys Cannes Competition Film 'Toni Erdmann'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  10. ^ Roxbourough, Scott (19 May 2016). "Cannes: Competition Crowdpleaser 'Toni Erdmann' Sells Wide". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Eröffnungsfilm: TONI ERDMANN". Filmfest München. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Sydney Film Festival. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  14. ^ Hammond, Pete (1 September 2016). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup: 'Sully', 'La La Land', 'Arrival', 'Bleed For This' & More". Deadline.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  15. ^ Nolfi, Joey (27 July 2016). "Toronto Film Festival 2016: Magnificent Seven, La La Land to screen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  16. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  17. ^ Cox, Gordon (9 August 2016). "New York Film Festival Loads 2016 Main Slate With Festival-Circuit Favorites". Variety. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  18. ^ "Toni Erdmann". New York Film Festival. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  19. ^ "Toni Erdmann". BFI London Film Festival. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  20. ^ "FILMFEST MÜNCHEN to open with "Toni Erdmann"". Film Fest-Muechen.de. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Film Laden. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  22. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Filmcoopi. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  23. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  24. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  25. ^ "Toni Erdmann". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  26. ^ a b Hopewell, John. "Cannes: 'Toni Erdmann' Wins Fipresci Competition Award". Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  27. ^ Roxborough, Scott (23 August 2016). "'Toni Erdmann' Named Film of the Year by International Federation of Film Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  28. ^ Hopewell, John (23 August 2016). "Maren Ade's 'Toni Erdmann' Wins 2016 Fipresci Grand Prix". Variety. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  29. ^ "Brussels Film Festival: Toni Erdmann remporte le Golden Iris du meilleur film". 24 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Toni Erdmann wins at the European Film Festival Palić". 25 July 2016.
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