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Audrey Kupferberg: A Coffee In Berlin

Every once in a while, a film comes along that dares to withhold facts, to keep its intentions as a guessing game, even as the final credits are being displayed.  Such a film is Jan Ole Gerster’s award-winning German feature A COFFEE IN BERLIN, also known as OH BOY!  Since this is Gerster’s first feature film, it is no wonder that it has taken some bit of time for it to catch on in the United States.  With an original German theatrical release in late 2012, A COFFEE IN BERLIN didn’t arrive in U.S. cinemas until June 2014. At its widest release here, it only played in twelve theaters and brought in only $150,000.  Even in Europe, the film played mainly at festivals, where it has won a good number of prestige awards, and theatrically it only grossed $2,600,000.

Now A COFFEE IN BERLIN is available for streaming, as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.  Here is where this significant movie will find its audience.

Crisp black-and-white cinematography, featuring shots of modern-day Berlin, sets the scene for the meandering story of A COFFEE IN BERLIN.  As the film unfolds, it is clear that Berlin is more than a location; it is an integral plot component. Additionally, there are many well-chosen close-ups. These serve to bring the viewer into the minds—shall I say the troubled mindsets – of the characters.

The main character is Niko Fischer, a twenty-something whose life is passing by, day-by-day, with little or no direction.  The film takes us through one day in Niko’s existence as he goes to various places and meets with various individuals.  The film draws portraits of the types of folk who reside in Berlin.  In almost every case, one meets neurotics, dysfunctional characters, drunks, the misdirected and the cold-blooded.  We encounter these characters through their intimate conversations with Niko, face-to-face meetings captured through camera close-ups.

Added to those stinging portraits are intermittent references to Nazi Germany:  frail jokes regarding “Heil Hitler”; contemporary actors in Nazi regalia; and a tear-soaked face recalling the tortuous reality of life in Nazi Germany.

 What is Gerster showing us?  The characters who demonstrate any kind of humanity are lost, going nowhere.  The one or two characters who are less affected by feelings are more directed and more successful.

As I watched this film, I began to get back an uncomfortable feeling that I had the times I’ve visited Berlin.  Berlin may be a city of grandeur, modernity, power and culture, but—even seventy years after the fall of the Third Reich, it residents are still dealing with the taint of Nazi domination.   Each of the characters in A COFFEE IN BERLIN shows signs of humanity, but each is stifled in pursuing a comfortable and happy lifestyle.

A COFFEE IN BERLIN is abstract. What plot there is is not conventionally structured and the details of characters are like puzzles partly-solved. That is what makes A COFFEE IN BERLIN such a rich experience; as viewers, we are left to think and rethink the film’s riveting content.

Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and appraiser. She teaches film studies at the University at Albany and has co-authored several entertainment biographies with her husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.

 

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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