"Der Lumpenmann" is a German television film from 1984, so this came out the year I was born and actually between three and four months before my birthday. It is also from the country in which I was born because back before the 1990s there were still two Germanys (or Germanies?) and this one here is from the GDR. At 65 minutes, it is really not a long film at all. The 75 minutes listed here on imdb are not correct unless there are other versions out there. It's even shorter than that. Maybe they included this figure because 75-minute films were not uncommon at all in the GDR and this running time is something you almost never found there outside of East Germany and also don't really find today where 80 minutes are already a huge exception, everything under 85 basically. I think some German television films stay under 90 and definitely many German television films (ARD Degeto) run for 87 or 88 minutes. But back to this one here: The title is pretty difficult to translate honestly, at least if we want to put it in one word the way it is done here with the original title. Or one word and an article. It basically means: The man who deals with dirty clothes, even if I am not sure if "clothes" is the right term, maybe just dirty stuff in general. It's not a profession where you keep your hands clean. And this name is one the protagonist here gives to himself in fact, also to provoke his son a bit as the kid is a medicine student and not too proud of his father's work. But let's stay with the basics for now: The director here is Jochen Thomas (cool name) and he worked much more often as an actor than as a director. He died over 25 years ago already though and this one here is one of his later career efforts, but not one of his latest. He did not manage a successful transition and stopped directing and acting basically when the Berlin Wall fell. This almost 40-year-old movie here was not his only collaboration with actor Herbert Köfer who plays the title character, but we will get to that one later. On very rare occasions, Thomas also wrote his own screenplays, but not so here. They got Alexander Kent for that. Still sounds English if you ask me. But clearly isn't if we look at his body of work. For him, this is also by far not the only collaboration with Thomas or Köfer and this pretty short movie here is from the middle (or end of second third) of his career pretty much. He was not entirely gone after 1989.
Now for Köfer: He is the man to be talked about. This film here (just like several others) was on national television today again and the reason is that Köfer just turned 100. On this occasion, the MDR showed several of his movies once again and that includes films that have not been shown for years probably, so it's really a rare occasion we got here. I mean Köfer said so himself that this film is not shown frequently and a bit on the forgotten side and the number of votes here on imdb (or lack thereof) makes it pretty obvious too. By the way, he said so in a little clip and they recorded a whole bunch of those in which he briefly elaborates on these movies and he still looks at least ten years younger than 100. Good for him. I hope he will still stay with us a little longer. Anyway, this one here he also called a bit subversive. I am not sure if I would agree with that, but it also it not GDR propaganda at all, which is never a bad thing. Maybe the scene with the drunk wife was a bit daring in terms of all that. Anyway, in another snippet Köfer talked about how he was a pretty big star in the GDR and how people recognized him immediately and I am too young to say if this is true, but seeing him in here as the one and only real lead, it would make sense. So it's nice these films are on again for people from the GDR especially who still remember the man fondly and seeing some of his stuff once more now will maybe bring back some nice memories for those. All the films were shown around noon or slightly afterwards, so it's a time for which at least retired persons should be home to enjoy. I have seen most of these films as well so far and the series is not over yet. At least tomorrow, there will be another one. This one here is my favorite so far though I think. As for the rest of the cast, we also have more people in here that seem familiar compared to other Köfer films. Not sure about Tomaschewsky, but Bürger many will recognize too and Schenk (he played the son, didn't he? I'm pretty sure he would not have thought Köfer still to be alive when he himself is almost 70) is also fairly famous still, not only because of the terrible In aller Freundschaft. On other occasions, Köfer's supporting cast included people taht barely acted in other films.
And here's why. I smiled a lot watching this one. Even laughed once or twice. I think this was a good film and I was surprised that I enjoyed it becaue the previous ones did not do too much for me, even if they weren't horrible either. The general premise here was kinda nice and Köfer surely helped matter being in the vast majority of scenes. I mean even if you can discuss if he really has a lot of range, but the once thing he certainly has is charisma and also recoognition value. They must have been glad to have him in the GDR. The idea here is that the protagonist has a fairly dirty job and his grown-up son was ashamed because of that and that's why he said to the woman he loves and whose family was pretty well-off that his old man works in a ministry, has a strong career in politics. It's impossible to really translate the words the son used, but they also work as a description for the job his father actually possessed which was fairly hilarious. Really difficult also to translate the humor there, but I am not sure if there are dubbed versions of this one anyway. probably only for other countries in Eastern Europe from back then because of the Iron Curtain. Anyway, let's keep it light. Things get more hilarious when a man who is a friend of the wealthy family of the woman takes a look into the family of the groom-to-be and finds out there is actually a Müller in that ministry and that he is a man of principles. Also his first name starts with the same letter. Okay, that was maybe a bit much, but still perfectly fine and not super unrealistic. Köfer's character, however, is embarrassed and he stays home and does not go to engagement party or what it is and instead prefers a game of chess. I can feel him.
As the film moves forward, there is another big issue coming up and this involves the business relations between key characters and this also eventually results in everybody finding out about each other and who they really are. Okay, this inclusion was indeed maybe a bit unrealistic and for the sake of it, but I was buying it and it did not make the film any worse for me luckily. So the truth comes out and I also like the message that came with it in the end, like how it is much more important to be a man of principles and does not matter too much what profession you're in. I mean superficial people will at least partially disagree, but then again, those are not really worth it anyway. Besides, the son here was also about to enter a really respected field, so is it really that important what his father does? I mean, from the son's perspective probably, so the doubts and overall premise do make sense and are a decent background for the key story in here. But I really liked how it all unfolded and the two fathers even hug it out near the end. Pretty nice to see such a heartfelt display of emotions while they could also be really depicted as enemies with the key plot in the second half and the business struggles there. But one shall respect people who are unbribable for sure. I already mentioned the scene earlier that includes the drunk mother and this was one example of how the film also succeeded during these moments when it moved a bit away from the central story and it's just pretty nicely done overall. This was for example a relatively politically incorrect scene, but still good that they did it. Comic relief never hurts at all, even if admittedly this was never a serious film from any perspective although I cannot say of course how people in the GDR saw it back then.
So I am certainly glad I got the chance to see this today. I find it especially disappointing that it seems to be very difficult these days to get a hand on this movie. Some of the other Köfer films I watched lately were online if you knew where to look, also on the MDR homepage, but who knows and maybe they will add this one to the Mediathek as well. They haven't yet, but sometimes they need a little longer. They really should in my opinion. Köfer, in his early 60s here, shines and it's just an enjoyable watch overall. Also this had more minor characters than other Köfer films, people that were just there, but didn't have anything to work with. Also I am glad they did not include an audience here as I have seen on one other Köfer film and I found the constant laughing there really distracting, but maybe also because there was hardly anything funny about that film and there is a great deal of funny here. But this is not a stage play anyway, so it wasn't an option I suppose. Good thing. They also did it right with keeping this movie relatively short. No need to stretch it for the sake of it. Instead, the route they took is one that made totally sense and every scene was a winner basically and no lengths at all here. Let me add that I was surely closer to giving this an 8 out of 10 because it increased in quality quickly than to a 4 out of 10 and that means something as I am not super generous with high ratings. So perhaps if I ever watch this one again (kinda unlikely with how difficult it is to find), I will even increase my rating. In any case though, this is a criminally underseen film and if you are lucky enough to get your hand on it, then absolutely did not miss out on the opportunity. Thumbs up.
Now for Köfer: He is the man to be talked about. This film here (just like several others) was on national television today again and the reason is that Köfer just turned 100. On this occasion, the MDR showed several of his movies once again and that includes films that have not been shown for years probably, so it's really a rare occasion we got here. I mean Köfer said so himself that this film is not shown frequently and a bit on the forgotten side and the number of votes here on imdb (or lack thereof) makes it pretty obvious too. By the way, he said so in a little clip and they recorded a whole bunch of those in which he briefly elaborates on these movies and he still looks at least ten years younger than 100. Good for him. I hope he will still stay with us a little longer. Anyway, this one here he also called a bit subversive. I am not sure if I would agree with that, but it also it not GDR propaganda at all, which is never a bad thing. Maybe the scene with the drunk wife was a bit daring in terms of all that. Anyway, in another snippet Köfer talked about how he was a pretty big star in the GDR and how people recognized him immediately and I am too young to say if this is true, but seeing him in here as the one and only real lead, it would make sense. So it's nice these films are on again for people from the GDR especially who still remember the man fondly and seeing some of his stuff once more now will maybe bring back some nice memories for those. All the films were shown around noon or slightly afterwards, so it's a time for which at least retired persons should be home to enjoy. I have seen most of these films as well so far and the series is not over yet. At least tomorrow, there will be another one. This one here is my favorite so far though I think. As for the rest of the cast, we also have more people in here that seem familiar compared to other Köfer films. Not sure about Tomaschewsky, but Bürger many will recognize too and Schenk (he played the son, didn't he? I'm pretty sure he would not have thought Köfer still to be alive when he himself is almost 70) is also fairly famous still, not only because of the terrible In aller Freundschaft. On other occasions, Köfer's supporting cast included people taht barely acted in other films.
And here's why. I smiled a lot watching this one. Even laughed once or twice. I think this was a good film and I was surprised that I enjoyed it becaue the previous ones did not do too much for me, even if they weren't horrible either. The general premise here was kinda nice and Köfer surely helped matter being in the vast majority of scenes. I mean even if you can discuss if he really has a lot of range, but the once thing he certainly has is charisma and also recoognition value. They must have been glad to have him in the GDR. The idea here is that the protagonist has a fairly dirty job and his grown-up son was ashamed because of that and that's why he said to the woman he loves and whose family was pretty well-off that his old man works in a ministry, has a strong career in politics. It's impossible to really translate the words the son used, but they also work as a description for the job his father actually possessed which was fairly hilarious. Really difficult also to translate the humor there, but I am not sure if there are dubbed versions of this one anyway. probably only for other countries in Eastern Europe from back then because of the Iron Curtain. Anyway, let's keep it light. Things get more hilarious when a man who is a friend of the wealthy family of the woman takes a look into the family of the groom-to-be and finds out there is actually a Müller in that ministry and that he is a man of principles. Also his first name starts with the same letter. Okay, that was maybe a bit much, but still perfectly fine and not super unrealistic. Köfer's character, however, is embarrassed and he stays home and does not go to engagement party or what it is and instead prefers a game of chess. I can feel him.
As the film moves forward, there is another big issue coming up and this involves the business relations between key characters and this also eventually results in everybody finding out about each other and who they really are. Okay, this inclusion was indeed maybe a bit unrealistic and for the sake of it, but I was buying it and it did not make the film any worse for me luckily. So the truth comes out and I also like the message that came with it in the end, like how it is much more important to be a man of principles and does not matter too much what profession you're in. I mean superficial people will at least partially disagree, but then again, those are not really worth it anyway. Besides, the son here was also about to enter a really respected field, so is it really that important what his father does? I mean, from the son's perspective probably, so the doubts and overall premise do make sense and are a decent background for the key story in here. But I really liked how it all unfolded and the two fathers even hug it out near the end. Pretty nice to see such a heartfelt display of emotions while they could also be really depicted as enemies with the key plot in the second half and the business struggles there. But one shall respect people who are unbribable for sure. I already mentioned the scene earlier that includes the drunk mother and this was one example of how the film also succeeded during these moments when it moved a bit away from the central story and it's just pretty nicely done overall. This was for example a relatively politically incorrect scene, but still good that they did it. Comic relief never hurts at all, even if admittedly this was never a serious film from any perspective although I cannot say of course how people in the GDR saw it back then.
So I am certainly glad I got the chance to see this today. I find it especially disappointing that it seems to be very difficult these days to get a hand on this movie. Some of the other Köfer films I watched lately were online if you knew where to look, also on the MDR homepage, but who knows and maybe they will add this one to the Mediathek as well. They haven't yet, but sometimes they need a little longer. They really should in my opinion. Köfer, in his early 60s here, shines and it's just an enjoyable watch overall. Also this had more minor characters than other Köfer films, people that were just there, but didn't have anything to work with. Also I am glad they did not include an audience here as I have seen on one other Köfer film and I found the constant laughing there really distracting, but maybe also because there was hardly anything funny about that film and there is a great deal of funny here. But this is not a stage play anyway, so it wasn't an option I suppose. Good thing. They also did it right with keeping this movie relatively short. No need to stretch it for the sake of it. Instead, the route they took is one that made totally sense and every scene was a winner basically and no lengths at all here. Let me add that I was surely closer to giving this an 8 out of 10 because it increased in quality quickly than to a 4 out of 10 and that means something as I am not super generous with high ratings. So perhaps if I ever watch this one again (kinda unlikely with how difficult it is to find), I will even increase my rating. In any case though, this is a criminally underseen film and if you are lucky enough to get your hand on it, then absolutely did not miss out on the opportunity. Thumbs up.