Wir sagen Du!, Schatz
Germany 2007

Opening 15 Nov 2007

Directed by: Marc Meyer
Writing credits: Marc Meyer
Principal actors: Anna Maria Mühe, Nina Kronjäger, Samuel Fintzi, Harald Warmbrunn, Margot Nagel

Oliver (Samuel Finzi) lives on the 17th floor of an abandoned East German apartment house in Berlin. Shortly before the Christmas holidays, he decides that he needs a “real” family and proceeds to kidnap a surrogate grandpa, grandma, wife, daughter, and baby son. Sadly, Oliver has an idealized perception of family life in which he sets the dinner table and serves his home-cooked food to the delight of all. But being the “father” of this patchwork entity is much more strenuous than he had imagined. He must make drastic rules to prevent the family from running away or calling for help. Everyone argues, resists control, makes spiteful comments, goes on strike and generally does everything that a normal family does. No one adheres to Oliver’s idealized vision of perfection; in spite of all his efforts, no one is grateful. This is an interesting German film by Marc Meyer, who has taken a Don Quixote figure off the horse and put him into a city setting. In the end, each character has grown in some way for the better. (Becky Tan)