Safari: Match Me If You Can
Germany 2018

Opening 30 Aug 2018

Directed by: Rudi Gaul
Writing credits: Rudi Gaul, Friederike Klingholz
Principal actors: Patrick Abozen, Nina Alpers, Sebastian Bezzel, Philip Birnstiel, Anna Lena Class

Safari is an online dating website. Candidates chose an animal which they think represents themselves. They swipe through the list of possible partners, and, if two people both swipe to the right, which means “yes,” then it’s a deal, and they meet up. Harry is a pilot, married to French wife Aurelie, a therapist; he meets Lara on Safari. Mona, already 50 years old, is the single mother of Pauline. Life is a single father and a clown; Arif has an Arab background; David is a nerdy, young guy, and then there is Fanny, a vegetarian. So let the show begin – and it does, sometimes too “hot” for some of the participants.

Here, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the characters, but no matter – the real star is sex in all kind of ways and places, described in a broad vocabulary (as least in the German version I saw). It also reflects how deeply immersed we are into the internet. Real life passes us by as we stare at our mobile phones. The inspiration was Reigen by Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler, whose 1920 premiere in Berlin created a huge scandal. You can see how far we’ve come in almost 100 years, because we will accept Safari as a comedy without being scandalous.  It is a chance to see many German actors at their best. Filmed in Bavaria: Starnberg and Munich. (Becky Tan)