David O'Connell
Whiskey and Vodka @ the Festival of German Films
March 30th 2010 20:14
by Cibbuano
While it may sound like a fearsome cocktail, or a film about the concoction, "Whiskey and Vodka" only uses the title liquors in one scene, when the older, famous actor Otto, drinks his vodka with his understudy, Arno.
Instead, the film, directed by Andreas Dresen, looks to tell the story of a famous actor, loved by all, but lost in the self-despair of alcoholism and arrogance. Otto knows that he's on the last lap of his career, and is unable to remove himself from the pedestral - showered with adulation from his colleagues and the media, he is, nevertheless, unbelievably lonely.
Things get worse when Otto ruins a day's shooting by secretly getting drunk on set, forcing the producer to find an understudy, a younger man that is still trying to break from theatre to film. Arno desperately craves the status and prestige that Otto has, but is unable to find his place, clumsily advancing on the female cast and crew, and trying to insert his own opinions into the production.
Dresen's film is plodding, and perhaps aimless, attempting to strike that wonderful vertex where a film can freely meander, yet is utterly compelling. The natural comparison is between "Whiskey and Vodka" to the movies of Woody Allen - there's even some whimsical Dixieland jazz on the soundtrack - but this German imitator falls short.
"Whiskey and Vodka" does entertain, however, as Henry Hubchen does a nuanced turn as Otto, who seems cast from the mold of Klaus Kinski - though nothing on celluloid could accurately portray the mad genius Kinski, who once wrote that "virtues can be faked; depravities are real".
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film is what happens in the background - as the actors play their little games, we see the production stutter and shamble, aching to move forward. We see the stress on the director, who loses control of the film, and his cast, but is the voice of authority where he has no authority. Most of all, we see the conceit of the director, who desires to be an 'auteur', but, in all, appears to be making a silly movie.
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Comment by Matt Shea