Review of Toni Erdmann (2016) by Karl M — 12 Feb 2017

The concept here is one that many workers can relate to - being dehumanised by the job, and how to reconnect with life. A sub-theme is the role of consultancy firms in the restructuring of industries, resulting in many people losing their jobs.

The central character, Ines, reflects pretty well the bureaucratic business stereotype, bland in style and appearance, moulding her advice and opinions as the occasion requires. In the end it's all about what the big money wants.

To lift Ines out of this blank existence, her big, gruff father visits her, and adopts a series of clownish poses and antics to try and reach her, making interventions in her work. To Ines' credit, she goes affectionately with the flow, rather than just de-friending and blocking her father.

Largely adrenalin free, the film moves gently along as if pondering what to do next, dotted with the comic vignettes. The business side of things is stripped free of glamour. There is a sarcastic depiction of co-worker sex (not romance), which is well played (note, there is explicit male nudity).

Eventually the story seems to run out of ideas and turns to an obligatory nude sequence, though here it is at least funny. This is a film about rising quietly above the banal existence of the modern day: you can change your life for the better without getting too stressed, or going too far out of your way.