And Along Come Tourists (2007)

Original Title

Am Ende kommen Touristen

Genre

Drama

Director

Robert Thalheim

Country

Germany

Cast

Alexander Fehling, Ryszard Ronczewski, Barbara Wysocka, Piotr Rogucki, Rainer Sellien, Lena Stolze, Lutz Blochberger, Willy Rachow

Storyline

German civil service worker Sven Lehnert (Alexander Fehling) is sent to Oswiecim, also known as Auschwitz, to take care of Stanislaw Krzeminski (Ryszard Ronczewski), an old man who survived the Nazi concentration camp.

Opinion

Anything Holocaust-related is very difficult to be handled, especially if you are making a film revolving around it. It's easy to be disrespectful, even when that's not the goal. So, if anything, I have to give Robert Thalheim credits for that because in spite of being a quite light-hearted film involving the matter, And Along Come Tourists is not offensive. That's one of the qualities of this film.

The other big one is not the simple story the film tells, but the way the director told it. Thalheim was able to combine the journey, both physical and emotional, of an insecure young man, his conflicting relationship with an old man, a potential romance with a Polish guide and the tension between Polish people and Germans very well.

And yes, like I said before, the story is very light-hearted, and it almost feels like it doesn't want to be taken seriously since it throws a lot on the fire and there's some irony and cynicism involved as well, but the film also makes a criticism towards those people and "charitable" organizations that falsely honour the memory of a place and its victims only to get themselves some publicity, which is sadly still happening in nowadays world. More and more often.

Then there is the reason I watched the film in the first place, the cast and in particular Alexander Fehling. I've seen several of his works in the past year or so, and it was no suprise to me that he gives yet another strong performance. I didn't know any of the other actors, but both Ryszard Ronczewki and Barbara Wysocka do a good job, the first playing the Auschwitz survivor and the latter palying Fehling's possible love interest. The only weak link is Piotr Rogucki whose character is weak and therefore ends up struggling a bit.