"Die Wunderübung" is a new Austrian German-language movie from 2018 that runs for a but over 90 minutes and was directed by Michael Kreihsl who has been working for 30 years in film now. The script is by Daniel Glattauer and not only is this not the first of his works that has been adapted for the screen, but it is not even the first time this "Wunderübung" got picked up. There is a version from several years ago that has Aglaia Szyszkowitz in it as well, the female lead in this movie we got here. She is joined by Devid Striesow who is probably more known to German audiences and these two play a couple struggling with their marriage and going to therapy. The therapist is played by experienced actor Erwin Steinhauer and I would say he is the overall MVP here although it is pretty close with Szyszkowitz here in terms of who gives the better performance. It really is a three-man show and thus it is not surprising that this was adapted from a stage play. I'd actually love to see this on stage. There was really nothing wrong with it, maybe just 2-3 moments I did not like for personal preference reasons and these are entirely subjective, for example how at the very end we hear the therapist argue with his wife on the phone or that he actually gets called by her which almost ruins his plan. Or early on that Striesow's character falls asleep during one exercise. All these seemed a bit over the top and I also had some issues with the beginning of the second half, but this was only because I did not understand yet that it was all staged and that really makes up to an extent where I would say it's not a key problem, maybe not even a problem. Also it is never about a revelation at the end that nothing of the therapist's wife leaving was real. You quickly understand that all he says and all the information he provides is really only for the purpose of helping the two to realize again what they saw in each other and still see in each other. And these few weaker moments I mentioned earlier are more than made up by the stronger moments. Actually, there are many really funny small sequences like the therapist eating the yoghurt. I will not go into detail any further now, but if you decide to watch the film, you are guaranteed to laugh a whole lot. I will elaborate on the dramatically memorable moments though. Some were really touching too, like for example in the first half when we have the woman talk about the walnut Christmas calendar. My eyes became a bit wet there seeing what their initially loving and caring relationship has turned into. I also quite liked the fist heart sequence. In the second half, the most moving thing was perhaps the farewell message contents about how friction causes heat and their relationship had turned to ice. I found this very memorable for whatever reason and it was a bit painful to see how hurt the therapist was and what happened to him despite what a good husband he had been over the years. I know what happens at the end gives a completely different perspective, but lets forget about this right now. Still it was really sad I think. Going back to the very beginning, the introduction to the two main characters, was short, but precise I guess. I liked the scene in the subway train the most given how and where they were sitting. Some may see this film as a comedy, especially with the title reference to the miracle exercise that is definitely more on the comedy side than drama, but I think this movie still offered a great deal of memorable moments in terms of drama, relationships, suffering in unhappy relationships and bonding etc. My suggestion here is that you definitely check out this movie. It very smart, very competent and very relevant in my opinion. A contender for finest 2018 film from the German-speaking territories. See it if you have the chance, very simplistic, but impressive how great of a character study they made from it. Just a bit of a shame the very last scene was such a disappointment. All in all, a huge thumbs-up though.
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kosmasp20 February 2021Therapists - are they worth the money you are going to spend on them? Likely not all of them. So what about the one we get to see here? I think you'll figure that out fairly quikly by yourself. So any supposed twists along the way - well let's just say I was not really surprised by how this ended.
That aside, the dialog is really well orchastrated and the actors are quite good. Since this is mainly about talking, that was quite important. I did not know this was an Austrian production, which is always funny when it comes to their relationship (quite literally) to the Germans. But this is a bit of side note, this concentrates on a relationship that may or may not be salvageable ... that is for you or the therapist to decide ... actually it is the movie that gives us an answer to that. Funny and enjoyable