Reinhard W
„LOTS OF BUCKS"~"JEDE MENGE KOHLE"
A german COMEDY-Movie, that really has LOTS of interesting, funny & „WOW!"-Facts for Cinemagoers to offer… BESIDES its main characteristcs:
„SMART Fun"*, good Story, GREAT Characters and overall fine Execution of the complete Production-Team.
[*instead of often appearing „STUPID Fun".]
• BTW;
Sorry if my english grammar contains mistakes… i am german. So, Thank you 4 your
Consideration and forbearance.
• A VERY 1st Request:
Forgive me… (RT-Editorial Directors + of course, Audiences!)…my kinda „OFF Topic-Intro" (4 a Review!)… but; later on in the contex…you‘ll understand the reason[s];
Big BIG THANKS!
• ALL of THIS is DEFINITLY NOT…
because of my relative little Involvement… as a young Film-Student back in 1980, being a part of the Photo-Film-Design-Class, that had the chance to learn… by doing a real Cinema-Production, at the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund.
But, ENOUGH NOW…
• WHY now THIS … for the US?
For Americans??
Well… ANOTHER Reason why i DO like to spend some MORE time, typing all this about a single Movie of the 80ies ? It really DESERVES Attention… STILL!
Period, because…
• the meaning BEHIND this review should be…
…honestly really MUCH more, CAUSE;
In times where WE ALL have not sooo much to laugh in Life… a (good, clever made!) COMEDY-Movie… (which are sadly rare theese days)…
CAN be „healthy" AND entertaining, hm!?!
• BUT, Beware:
i am (besides this „special" Review) NOT t.h.e. Comedy-Fanatic before the Lord!
The Opposite hits it better:
Chris Nolan, Sir Ridley Scott, Ari Aster, David Fincher… and of course Scorsese, Kubrick and Tarantino… just to mention those who i deeply admire.
Anyway… as i mentioned before: GOOD Comedy-Movies… are rare. No matter in which country.
•PLUS… i guess,
there IS an Audience in the U.S.A., who DOES watch foreign Movies with Subs… like a part of germanies „Cineasts" do TOO, with american Movies.
• THEREFORE… i promise…
THIS should & will be an honest Recommendation 2 U… from „FAN to FANs", hoping… nope…
KNOWING… that a good portion of viewers will laugh their a**es off, because of the „honest, wisdom-laced straightforward"-humor the lovingly drawn characters bring in…
that often sneaks into scenes, despite the serious core of the Story.
(PHEW … WHAT a line)
• CONCLUSION?
This… might NOT be „wasted Space".
AND… a fine Task 4 U… to go out, and look for this DVD. You WON‘T be disappointed.
•PRE-History
The german 80ies „Independent-Movie-Landscape" was… barly EXISTING. Except… in a dirty industrial City, dominated by a coal, steel and beerbrewers society, there was ONE MAN…
• The MOVIE-Professor
Adolf Winkelmann, a brave Guy, and a creative one with lots of Fantasy, when it came to Scriptwriting, to „STORY telling", thought diffent;
HE integrated his Projects into the Study-Plan! So… 28 Students could learn… really intense by „LIVE-Cinema-Making"!
BTW: „Jede Menge Kohle" was just ONE Comedy of a whole Trilogy;
„The Ruhr Area Trilogy (3 DVDs) Collector's Edition".
• WHERE?
Scince our Region (around Dortmund) was T.H.E. classic Coalmining-Part of Germany (back THEN)… the Story tells of our Hero…
but; just read this shortened…
• DESCRIPTION!
Katlewski (our Hero) is in his early 20s and a coalminer from Recklinghausen, a tiny, dirty town near Dortmund.
He can no longer cope with his wife and the assets they have achieved. One day he suddenly disappeares deep underground.
Two weeks later he is discovered, completely disturbed, in a tunnel under Dortmund.
He meets the Girl Ulli, who gives him the strenght to finaly DO the divorce now, and begins a second life.
Starting… with what german Judges call „Separation of Goods" in Divorces, by doing so… completely in the spirit of the sentence!
Anyway…This all has one very sick catch, because …there is still a large bank loan outstanding!!
In order to pay off this loan, „KATLE" is now trying to make quick money… in verrrry strange ways!
• AVAILABILITY?!
In Rotten Tomatoes Overview on one point it says:
NOT RELEASED YET!
I hope that was ment just for the U.S.-Release!?
In Germany & some Countries of the EU it was released 1981 in Cinemas, and got into TV later on.
• THE MAKING?
The Budget back THEN (1981) was 1,4 Million Deutschmarks (some money came from the University, some from german Federal film funding)… which today is around 700.000 €uro/ Dollar.
• CAM-TECH & OTHERs
A spring-loaded camera from the 1930s was used during the twelve-day underground filming, as no electrical equipment was allowed to be used at a depth of 840 Meters (!), on the ninth level of the Gneisenau colliery due to the risk of explosion.
It is the first German film to be shot in „Dolby Stereo", but NOT the first in the WORLD, as is often claimed!
„Dolby Stereo" was already used in 1977‘s „Star Wars". However… this studio sound used Lots of Charcoal original sound. The film was also the 2nd new German film in the Cinemascope-Format, after Rudolf Thome's „Detectives" from 1969.
• OVERALL RECEPTION ?
In Germany/Europe „our" Study-Project (Press called it „Dropout comedy")… was kinda well accepted by the Audience.
• OVERALL CRITIX ?
"Technically complex, ironic depiction of the „Ruhr area society" that is "staged with considered comedy".
• REWARDS ?
It was awarded with the german „Federal Film-Prize" in Silver, and the german Federal Film-Prize in Gold (for camerawork).
Now… IF you‘re somewhere in the USA, i‘ll guess there WILL be the „Jede Menge Kohle"-DVD/BluRay available, in any medium Store.
And… if you wanna save money; the Trilogy is around 30,- Euros in germany. So it could not be so much more expensive in the US.
FINALLY; Don‘t be angry on me.
I just wanted to do good!
Also… usually i write max. 10 Lines…
HAve a nice upcoming Winter,
Reinhard
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
12/02/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
