Directed by Ralf Heuttner
Vincent’s mother has just died and he has her ashes in a candy tin. At twenty-seven, he doesn’t remember his mother as ever being happy but in the only photograph he has of her, she is by the sea and looking very cheerful. So, all he wants to do is take his mother’s ashes to the sea. Unfortunately, because he has a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome, he can’t drive or catch public transport and his politician father is too busy to be bothered with him so he has placed him in an institution. Here Vincent (Florian David Fitz, who also wrote the screenplay) shares a room with obsessive-compulsive and generally rude Alexander (Johannes Allmayor) and makes friends with anorexic, pot-smoking Marie (Karoline Herfurth).
The three inmates steal a car and we get to know more of their foibles as they try to make their way to the sea. As well as the breath-taking scenery, we are also treated to small touches of humanity from these damaged but very likeable people. This unlikely scenario allows us to appreciate the difficulties encountered by people with these mental illnesses, and also value their coping abilities. They are joined on their road journey by mismatched pursuants in the form of Vincent’s bombastic father Robert (Heino Ferch) and Dr Rose (Kathatina Meuller-Elmah) who runs the institution and whose car was stolen. These two are no match for the combined wits of the three fugitives and English language pop songs make it quite an entertaining journey with an upbeat ending.
Vincent Wants to Sea is the opening night film of the Audi Festival of German Films, screening at Cinema Paradiso 14-18 April.
Lezley Herbert
