"Milchgeld. Ein Kluftingerkrimi" is a German television film from 2012, so this one will have its tenth anniversary in a bit over a year or maybe it happened already depending on when you show up here to read my review. I have a feeling this film will be shown on national television for years to come and that is not necessarily a bad thing because there's many worse films out there, but also not really a good thing. Liks mmost production by ARD and the other channels, this runs for briefly under 1.5 hours. This film is based on the book(s) by Klüpfel and Kobr. A but unusual to see an adaptation from a book that had two writers. Usually, those only have one, so this is an exception. I mean there are anough books that have more than one writer, but it does not happen that often that they get turned into films. At least from what I have seen. And I have seen a lot. May have to do with the fact that it is easier to negotiate the right when there is just one writer to talk to. Anyway, if I see it correctly, this is the second film based on their books on Kluftinger. The first is from three years earlier and may be a bit confusing because that one is still called an Allgäukrimi before they changed it to Kluftingerkrimis with these and several films that followed. The most recent one is from 2016, so already been a while since then and I am not sure if there will be new ones or if there are new books even to turn into films. I am positive that if there are, then there will be new movies too unless another five years pass or so. By the way, I have not read the book(s) as usual, so I cannot really talk about parallels and differences here between the base material and this adaptation, but I assume that as they kept going with these films, the original writers were not unhappy with the outcome. The writers who adapted the books into screenplays here are Holtz and Iwersen. Cannot say I see too much talent in those judging from the quality of this film, but also their other works. Tatort episodes, Marienhof, SOKO and Der letzte Bulle is not exactly on a level where I would be remotely impressed to be honest. Also, speaking of the crime genre, I never saw anything in Donna Leon's Brunetti movies and these are also part of their bodies of work and they also worked together on quite a few episodes of these and also reunited for more Kluftinger films. So in short, I think they should go with other writers if there will be more Kluftinger films as these two mean a step down in quality.
The director is Rainer Kaufmann. I don't think he is a superb filmmaker or anything, but if you take a look at his body of work and all he did since the late 1980s, there is no doubt that his career includes much more talent and creativity compared to the two writers here. The man turned 60 last year and he started arund the fall of the Berlin Wall, so at a point when he was approximately 30, which is probably not very early or very late by today's standards. Kaufmann also directed the film from three years earlier and returned for one more Kluftingerkrimi after this one, but with the more recent ones, they got somebody else. makes me also respect him more because he does not stick 100% with a series if he feels the material is not good enough or maybe he was enough in demand with other projects. Him they should try to get back if they ever make another Kluftingerkrimi. The title here is a little play on words because "Milchgeld" is the kind of money your parents give you, so you buy a bottle or little package of milk at school. The is the harmless approach, but the meaning is as well that this film is about dairy farmers and the money connected to this business. Lead actor is Herbert Knaup and him i almost always like. Guess I would have appreciated this film less with another lead role. As for the rest of the cast, I cannot say too much. Or don't want to. There are other really established actors like Allmayer, Zirner and Prückner, but if you care about those, feel free to check out their bodies of work yourself. Many other experienced actors too. May Prückner rest in peace by the way. He died last year and these Ostwind films are certainly not exactly anything one would want to go out with. Not the best kind of closure. In this one here, he plays the title character's father, so another recurring role for him and despite the father-son struggles, you can see at the very end that he is somewhat proud of his offspring and his job.
So let's focus a bit on the plot and story now as well as individual moments. Gonna do some brainstorming mostly now, not too structured, not too chronological. This film (like the others) play int he south of Germany. The Allgäu is a rather rural region, so probably no coincidence that dairy farmers are among the center of the story here. Another thing that comes with the region are the really thick accents. I am a German native, but I struggled a lot at times to understand everything they are saying if I did not concentrate completely and it's difficult to really concentrate on the story and characters when a great deal of attention here already lies with verbally understanding the movie. Maybe subtitles would not be an entirely bad idea, also for those German that live a bit more north. And perhaps, also as a consequence, it is an easier watch for those living in the area depicted in here or nearby. Home advantage you could say. German films that mix crime with comedy to some extent have not been unusual, frequently also with black humor, but this one here is not too much about black humor than about the shenanigans of the locals and how they are all a bit different, but not entirely unlikable or so. The cop investigates the murder of a man and as a consequence has to ask questions to people he actually knew before. Some of them at least. I always thought that personal involvement is a matter that results in people not investigating in certain cases, but not so here apparently. Then again, they do not have hundreds of cops there in this little place, which may explain it. The consequence is that there are conflicts between the cop and some of the locals, including his own father, that even result in physical arguments on at least one occasions. This was kinda crime and comedy at the same time. As for the crime element itself, I was not too happy here. How they present one suspect after the next did not win my over. The boy only destroyed the glass. The man and woman have alibis that they worked illegally somewhere else, which they do not want to admit right away of course, and in the end this group of men that abducted the protagonist's father just like the revelation about who's the killer felt not too inspired of for the sake of it. If you make it personal with the scenes with the dad I just mentioned, then you must come up with better and either more realistic or more entertaining material.
As for the comedy, the comparison for me will always be with the Eberhofer films. Those I really adore and enjoy and there is much more black comedy, which may be the reason for that. This one here is not even remotely on the same level. It's also a step down in quality compared to the first film from three years earlier. The colleague with the thick black glasses who wants to be the boss in Kluftinger's absence eventually gets more anoying than entertaining. I guess they included the scene in which Kluftinger tells him´near the end how to clean his face to show us that there is no really bullying going on. But other than that, he may not be the happiest with his work. he does not get to shine the way he wants to in the interrogation room and is put down by several characters here and there, especially by Kluftinger. Then again, Kluftinger puts down many people who he deems less competent than himself, so nothing personal. He himself is no Sherlock Holmes either though, but he does not see it this way. While he prevails when going up against the bad guys in the end, some of the comedy to his character comes to situations in which he is too slow or too weak to prevail. Oh, back to the other guy with the glasses, the moment he shows up in a suit and wearing a tie for the wrong reason was kinda funny. I mean not that he did, but when one character called him James Bond. Even more entertaining with the accent. But these moments were not too frequent sadly. The idea with the main character's wife going on a holiday was also so-so only. Kluftinger's reaction was kinda funny when he realizes she is busy there and having a great time because he was actually looking forward to some alone time and the case came the perfect moment to cancel his plans to accompany her, but with these phone calls, he did not seem too happy she was having a fun time without him.
Okay, this is pretty much it then. I think that they could have done better here with both the crime component as well as the comedy. I will not give up on this series yet though because in the first, they managed to do better and maybe they will improve again. As I said, this film will be on for years to come here and same applies most likely to the rest of the films. And Knaup is in all of them, so one more reason to watch. Here and there, he also has a tendency to play his characters the same, so he may not have the most versatility, but he seems likable and his recognition value is undisputable. I think that with him, but also the rest of the cast, this could, or even should, have become a better movie than it did eventually. On a completely unrelated side note, the assistent there at the police station reminded me a bit of Sharona on Monk. Physically. Okay, this is it then. I give the outcome here a thumbs-down and I hope this will be my least favorite from from the series and the others are better. Where were the cows though? But the milk shot near the end was pretty nice, even if the video quality was not amazing. No cocaine luckily, just milk powder. Love milk btw.
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