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Showing posts from May, 2017

Toni Erdmann

The man hardly needs face paint.  Or a wig.  Or fake teeth.  He certainly doesn't need to appear as a nine-foot mountain of hair to make a strong impression.  The shaggy bear that is Winfried Conradi (Peter Simonischek) is singular enough in appearance, in overall presence, to do without props.  But what fun would that be?  When an opportunity for mischief presents itself, when faced with an expression of bullshit, a moment of boredom or uncertainty, out come the antic teeth.  At such times, the man's already considerable visage, replete with expressive potential - jutting jaw lines that sweep down to his emphatic chin like the prow of a great ship, dark eyebrows beneath the mop of grey hair of such variable and indicating personality that they should probably be credited among the cast of Toni Erdmann - at such times, that great face can be rendered comic, demonic, or any number of shades between.  Long though she has known him, Ines (Sandra Huller) isn't at all