In 2018, a family argues in “Der Vorname” about the choice of the same for the upcoming offspring. Now a trip to Lanzarote is planned, and again Sönke Wortmann sends his protagonists through the powerfully eloquent family hell.
Four years ago, Sönke Wortmann brought the remake of the French film “Le Prénom” to the cinema with “Der Vorname”, itself an adaptation of the play of the same name by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte from 2010. The story about a middle-class family who got into a fight at dinner about the – allegedly – chosen first name of the next generation and soon dealt with far more topics than this, attracted more than a million viewers to the cinema. “Der Nachname” has been completed as a successor for a while now, but its start had to be postponed due to Corona.
The fact that there is such a thing as a sequel is also thanks to the screenwriter Claudius Pläging, who further developed the basic idea of ??the play and knitted a lot of ideas around a new discussion. This time – as the film title suggests – the focus is on choosing a surname after marriage.
Mother Dorothea (Iris Berben) secretly married the much younger René (Justus von Dohnányi), an old friend of the family. Now she invites her children Elisabeth (Caroline Peters) and Thomas (Florian David Fitz) with their respective appendages – Stephan (Christoph Maria Herbst) and Anna (Janina Uhse) – to the family finca in Lanzarote. When the new family relationships are presented there, Thomas in particular is displeased, and the others at least a lack of understanding. Elisabeth, as René’s good friend, is above all deeply hurt.
The fact that René also keeps Thomas’ former room in the finca locked doesn’t make things any better for him. The secret behind it and a few more will come to light in the course of the upcoming (controversial) talks. And all of this flares up because of the fact that Dorothea, who is known for being self-determined, has adopted René’s surname and is now called König.
As in “The First Name”, this is only a means to an end and the initial spark for a lot of other hard truths and bitter insights. However, based on Dorothea’s decision, the meaning of names in general, but also one’s own identity, gender roles and their power relations in particular can be discussed.
In the end, however, everyone in the family has an unpleasant opinion about the other that sooner or later, voluntarily or accidentally, comes to light. And the clan also hides a lot of secrets, so that something new is revealed almost every second. There is hardly any time to take a deep breath, which sometimes makes it a bit exhausting to follow the many events carefully. And unfortunately, so do some of the more serious problems at large. Much is commented on, but neither solved nor finally discussed.
Anyone who wants to see a Sönke Wortmann film knows what to expect in terms of cast and humor. “The First Name”, “Contra”, “Closed Society” – Here “The Last Name” makes no difference. The fact that Herbst, von Dohnányi, Fitz and Co. are a well-rehearsed team and harmonize well with each other is enough fun to hide the film’s weaknesses. And so “Der Nachname” offers an entertaining 87 minutes full of biting dialogue and silliness, which should prepare many a person for their annual home visit at Christmas.
