Review of Bierkampf

The Oktoberfest in Munich, or the 'Wies'n', how it is called by locals, takes place every year in the late summer and is said to be the biggest fair in the world. By watching the movie one will soon encounter, that everybody visiting that place just needs some minutes to mutate into a beer-quaffing, song-shouting, sex-searching anybody. Having a historical background in celebrating the Bavarian culture, the Oktoberfest has evolved to just a mega-party of twelve vastly big beer tents with ordinary disco music visited by millions of amazed international guests every time. Such an interesting tension is created, when director and main actor Achternbusch, being a sensitive artist on the one hand and a traditional Bavarian on the other, is thrown in that fun-oriented, superficial setting. Making things easier by being dressed as a policeman Achternbusch goes for it. We can be witness of one of the greatest movie scenes I know, when he runs uncut through a beer tent making some fun with and provoking people you surely could label as drunk and who react sometimes amused as well as quite aggressive. I'd like to say, that it has got something from Tarkovsky. 'Bierkampf' in the whole can be seen as a great artful movie essay about tradition, sexuality, friendship and the sense of celebrating. Highly recommendable.