An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was included in the list ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it was quite an experimental feature and, yet, it was still a huge hit when it was released in Germany back in 1930. It’s difficult to imagine that something like this could attract the attention of the mainstream audience nowadays. As far as I was concerned, it was definitely intriguing but, to be honest, it was still too slight and above all too random for me. Indeed, at first glance, it seemed to be about 2 couples spending the Sunday together and, yet, it was constantly intercut with some random footages of other Berliners enjoying their Sunday as well. I mean, both approaches had some merit but I wish the makers would choose which direction they would go as mixing them didn’t really work, at least, not for me. Still, for a seemingly simple and cheap movie, it looked visually pretty neat and it did help that the 2 young girls involved (Christl Ehlers and Brigitte Borchert) were really lovely. It was also quite striking to see all the shops in Berlin closed during this Sunday and it reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in the 80’s in France when, on Sunday, everything was closed as well. Nowadays, most shops are still opened on Sunday, at least, where I live in the Netherlands, and while it’s quite convenient, it’s definitely a different vibe. Another striking thing with this movie was to see all these average seemingly innocent Germans enjoying their time off during the weekend when you know that, only 3 years later, Adolf Hitler will take over the power and they will then all be involved in his reign of terror, one way or another. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really mind-blowing, it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental features. 

6/10