 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
Just to pass the time during a long drive, a man (Arno Assmann) who's
quite well-to-do judging from his car, his suit, his manners, decides to
give a lift to a random hitchhiker (Dieter Hallervorden) - and after a bit
of harmless conversation, things get a bit awkward between the two as the
hitchhiker insists the man is a rich slacker who hasn't spent a day of
honest work in his entire life - which he sees only confirmed by the man's
statement that his "job is difficult to explain" -, the man
thinks the hitchhiker is one of those folks who chronically feel socially
disadvantaged but do nothing to better themselves. Having fallen out, the
man wants to kick out the hitchhiker right then and there, when the
hitchhiker pulls a gun on him, and forces the man to come to a greasy
backwoods restaurant with him, where the man seems and behaves so out of
place that the hitchhiker has no problems convincing everyone the man's
just a loonie escaped from the loonie bin. As the drive on, it becomes
clear that the hitchhiker gradually assumes the man's identity and forces
the man to assume his - also by way of telling him from his past, how he
was in the loonie bin and killed a warden and the like. He even forces the
man to change cloths with him ... and ultimately the hitchhiker even calls
the police to pick up the man who he claims to be an escaped loonie. While
he was away phoning, the man has grabbed his gun and now wants to shoot
the hitchhiker, to only now learn it's nothing but a toy gun. He then runs
away in panic, only to be picked up by the police the hitchhiker has
called, and since he's carrying a gun and wearing shabby clothes, the
policemen assume him to be the escaped loonie, and the hitchhiker in his
suit and with his good manners to be a respectable well-to-do citizen -
and thus they take the man with them and let the hitchhiker loose onto the
world again ... The TV-movie Der Springteufel's main
attraction was that it showed by then reknowned German slapstick comedian
Dieter Hallervorden in a more serious role - which was ironically also the
reason it was hardly repeated on TV in later years, probably due to
Hallervorden's breakthrough slapstick series Nonstop Nonsens
that ran from 1975 to 1980. That said, mostly Hallervorden handles this
more serious role quite well, but every now and again his comical persona
shines through which does not go particularly well with the movie's very
subtle black humour but doesn't sink the movie either - neither does the
at times too stilted dialogue. What remains is a rather entertaining 54
minutes of made-for-television entertainment that's subtly and effectively
directed, that makes the most of its very limited sets, and that dares to
be different (maybe another/an additional explanation why the film had
hardly any repeats). Not perfect to be sure, but likeable at least.
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
eThaiCD.com
find Der Springteufel at adultvideouniverse.com
