Making a movie about Alzheimer's disease and how it affects families - that's difficult stuff, and if you want to include comedy aspects, your task doesn't get easier. The result - "Honig im Kopf" - is really better than it has any right to be, given those difficulties - it's touching, funny and perfectly paced. Opinions about Til Schweiger's acting ability might be divided; his talent as director and narrator can not be doubted after this project.
The biggest part of the story centers on 11-year old Tilda and her granddad Amandus who is slowly drifting into dementia; while Tilda knows (by asking her paediatrician, her parents being of little use) that the disease will be getting more serious and that he will eventually die, she tries her best to make him feel loved and needed during his last months. This goes so far that she "kidnaps" him and his plastic money for a travel from Hamburg to Venice (where he had spent his honeymoon with his deceased wife and which he still remembers vividly).
The first half of the story tells about the difficulties in integrating Amadus into domestic life at his son's, of the following near-breaking of the family - then it becomes a kind of road movie when crafty Tilda and Amandus hit the train (and have to leave it during a spell of confusion). Both halves share comedy and drama in equal measure - there's quite a few scenes where the whole theater exploded with laughter or snorting - , but it's the road movie that's more endearing: The help the dissimilar pair gets from unexpected sides, the intimate moments between grand-daughter and granddad, and in background: Tilda's parents going through some relationship changes as a consequence of her actions.
In the end, there's death. I thought it important not to cut away too early, death was waiting in the off since the second scene and was inevitable. Still, I was near bawling during those final scenes, that's hard stuff - "Honig im Kopf" is NOT a children's film even if the main protagonist is a 11-year old.
The acting was good - Hallervorden as Amandus excellent (though not as versatile as in last year's "Sein letztes Rennen" - more the fault of the script where he is given few bright moments) and Emma Schweiger very good, too - during the first minutes, her voice-over sounded a bit precocious but she really drew me in afterwards. All other roles were played at least competently.
The only "weak" parts in an otherwise excellent production: Camera-work and light were a bit pedestrian, and the soundtrack, while not bad, left me wanting for something less bland. But those are minor points, highly recommended!
The biggest part of the story centers on 11-year old Tilda and her granddad Amandus who is slowly drifting into dementia; while Tilda knows (by asking her paediatrician, her parents being of little use) that the disease will be getting more serious and that he will eventually die, she tries her best to make him feel loved and needed during his last months. This goes so far that she "kidnaps" him and his plastic money for a travel from Hamburg to Venice (where he had spent his honeymoon with his deceased wife and which he still remembers vividly).
The first half of the story tells about the difficulties in integrating Amadus into domestic life at his son's, of the following near-breaking of the family - then it becomes a kind of road movie when crafty Tilda and Amandus hit the train (and have to leave it during a spell of confusion). Both halves share comedy and drama in equal measure - there's quite a few scenes where the whole theater exploded with laughter or snorting - , but it's the road movie that's more endearing: The help the dissimilar pair gets from unexpected sides, the intimate moments between grand-daughter and granddad, and in background: Tilda's parents going through some relationship changes as a consequence of her actions.
In the end, there's death. I thought it important not to cut away too early, death was waiting in the off since the second scene and was inevitable. Still, I was near bawling during those final scenes, that's hard stuff - "Honig im Kopf" is NOT a children's film even if the main protagonist is a 11-year old.
The acting was good - Hallervorden as Amandus excellent (though not as versatile as in last year's "Sein letztes Rennen" - more the fault of the script where he is given few bright moments) and Emma Schweiger very good, too - during the first minutes, her voice-over sounded a bit precocious but she really drew me in afterwards. All other roles were played at least competently.
The only "weak" parts in an otherwise excellent production: Camera-work and light were a bit pedestrian, and the soundtrack, while not bad, left me wanting for something less bland. But those are minor points, highly recommended!