A Coffee in Berlin (2014)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

"Oh Boy" is a black-and-white Berlin-set tale of melancholy starring tom Schilling and directed by Jan Ole Gerster. For the latter it is only the second movie as director and the first in 8 years. Also, he played a minor role in making "Good Bye Lenin". So, with that non-prolific background, it was certainly a bit surprising how many awards this movie achieved and that it became the great winner at the German Film Awards that year. The movie only runs for little over 80 minutes and depicts conversations and interactions between the central character and usually one or two other people. Schilling is basically in every scene of the film. All the supporting players do a very fine job too, even if they only appear in a single scene like Schüttler, von Dohnányi, Lau or Brambach, a personal favorite. I mentioned Katharina Schüttler and I liked how the words displayed on the screen "Oh Boy" perfectly fit her interaction with our "hero" early on in the film.I quite liked the music. The jazz performances with the black-and-white cinematography give the film a very unique, melancholic note. At the end, I somehow had the feeling that there was a parallel between Gwisdek's character and Schilling's. You basically knew nothing really about them, even if you watched Schilling the entire movie. You find out a lot more about everybody he interacts with. Gwisdek won a German Film award by the way for his one-scene performance at the end, but this may have also been a career awards. I preferred other nominees (his own son) and I also thought Ulrich Noethen gave a better performance here in this film as well. Maybe it was some kind of unofficial career achievement award or had to do with Gwisdek being born in Berlin. Lau and Schilling were as well, by the way. The biggest supporting player is Friederike Kempter ("Tatort"), who gives a fine performance as well as an attractive, but very unstable young woman.I enjoyed this movie a lot. I don't know if you have seen any of Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" works, but it reminded me a bit of that, only that I liked it even more. Highly recommended and it gives us a great portrayal of loneliness and life in the big city.

Jan Ole Gerster is still relatively unknown, a director who wrote and directed so far his greatest success. (A Coffee and Berlin, 2012) is a surprising tragi-comedy. Niko Fischer played by Schilling, who interrupted his studies and is trying to find himself in Berlin. The movie reflects the play of colors, through a black and white melancholy in the backdoors of Berlin, which brings a big city atmosphere. How quickly can someone get lost in the extent of a city? I Might emphasize extremely but it is a well-written story, with a crunchy plot, which is both dynamic and interesting. As far the idea of broken glass, leaves the feeling of hopelessness and disconnection. It is to focus on its central importance. I must mention the editing, sometimes it is dysfunctional in transition, so the story becomes a little bit stiff.The main actor Schilling, offers extremely good emotional articulation, he has a strong repertoar, and brings a lot to the movie. There is a spectacle or a slow-burning rhythm that you feel in this flick. Almost a kind of sophisticated intelligent elegance.When something is dying, there is born something new. Are we really all alone on this planet, or is it alOne? The ultimate truth lies within us. Stunning black and white tragicomedy with the addition of old school German actors, offers an exceptional journey, true the psyche of a young man...trying. Worth a sneak peak.

There is a theme in the movie and I'm not talking about the growing up part. I'm talking about the part where the lead character has to make decisions. Which he is unable too. You could argue, that is part of growing up, but it's just a theme that runs through many people and will touch a nerve.Of course the one thing our lead character wants, he doesn't get. There is always an obstacle, something that will not let him get it. For some that might feel symbolic (and the resolution this has or hasn't at the end of the movie might feel that way too), but that depends on how you view things. And that is something that has been done clever by the filmmaker here. Shooting in black and white is an art choice, but I feel it works for the general feeling of the movie

As a German living abroad for the past 12 years, it's been a surprising pleasure to see, back in Berlin, this little jewel of a movie. Step by step the young guy's everyday-life situations pull you in, develop a light but melancholic atmosphere in which great acting, a pensive and funny script, music that reminds the best of Miles Davis and awesome black-and-white camera-work form a wonderful whole of a movie. If you see, towards the end, average shots of Berlin turned into looking poetic… you know the film has found its tone just on the right note.Beautiful - I hope this (first!) film didn't only accidentally turn out so well. You want to wish the director, all actors and his crew the very best !