Fack ju Göhte
Whenever I get back into watching films, I always start with easily disgestible stuff before moving onto more sophisticated things. This time, I started with some comedies, namely “To Rome with Love” and this film, and who knows when this phase of watching movies will end. Probably very soon, because it’s opera season time – yay!
I don’t know how I stumbled upon this article but somehow its comments on teen slang were intriguing. I felt an incredibly strong urge to take a look at this film, and none of those naysaying comments about how the film is just male eyecandy could sway me. (With that said, a movie with male instead of female eyecandy? Fantastic.) My suspicions were right. I thought the movie was extremely funny and delivered a curiously universal humour because, let’s face it, we were all scoundrels in high school. “Chantal, heul leise” is deservedly famous and even made Pip laugh when I showed him the trailer.
For that reason, maybe I shouldn’t spoil the plot, but then again the plot matters little. It’s essentially about some virtually illiterate but shockingly attractive guy who accidentally becomes a teacher, tries to scare the kids into submission but in the process falls in love, starts caring about the kids and ultimately become Great Teacher Onizuka. Overall, Onizuka is a more likable character because he is openly perverse and defiant of society while being protective of his students ever since the very beginning, but Zeki’s development into a “normal” member of society is a cute one to see. Perhaps the film is a little bit too idealistic especially at the point where Chantal (of all people!) joins Jugend forscht, but it’s just a light-hearted comedy and I personally welcome to happy end.
The only character I was unhappy with was Charlie. She is this incredibly ditzy, good-natured prostitute who is somehow in love with Zeki but then helps him find his true love. Oh boy. What is up with Jana Pallaske and these incredibly thankless roles? Just like in this film, she was “the other more ugly girl” in “Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken” when she actually has a fairly pretty face. Maybe her agent just hates her, it’s baffling.
Without any doubt, Chantal was the highlight of the film for me. Those promo videos made with her are the best when you’ve seen the film and have gotten familiar with her role (“Voll süß!”) and I am happy that it made the actress famous. At age 21, it seems like she is already a pro (though I don’t see her going the Alexandra Maria Lara route, go to Hollywood and basically fail there), but I did like what she said about being 15 years old: “At 15 years, you have strength. The intuition is strong. It’s boiling. The energy comes from the desire to try and find yourself which is always stronger than the fear of being hurt.”
I could totally see the film again, right now. After spending years of my youth seeing bad German movies on German youth, I am glad that today’s generation of kids has “Fack ju Göhte”, even if the film is clichéd and, unlike GTO, ultimately quite affirmative of the institution of school.