EThe intervertebral discs of the audience’s favorite Axel Prahl have never had such a literal importance. In the role of Marko Wendrichs, a driver for frozen food for the Eisland brand, he suffers from the physical strain of carrying crates every day. For more than thirty years, Wendrichs has been cruising through the suburbs of Hamburg to songs by Roland Kaiser, heaving the ordered goods with cracking whirls into the freezer compartment of the mostly older, single customers. For them, the always friendly freezer man, always helpful and talkative, is a welcome change.
But then a herniated disc suddenly made Wendrichs an early retiree. The widower hasn’t had much time to relax so far, he fell asleep exhausted while doing fitness exercises in front of the television. His orthopedist (Narges Rashidi) warns him to take it easy and enjoy his free time. It is not at all clear to him what ideas he has of life, let alone hobbies. So far he has managed to make ends meet with his student son Steffen (Merlin Rose), so it is now more difficult for him. Steffen should have it better thanks to his law degree: “The main thing is nothing where he has to wear a name tag.”
When a wealthy customer (Inge Maux) dies on the very evening that she invited him to her home as the only guest at her eggnog birthday party, Wendrichs senses a way out of his financial distress. The only problem: As a scammer who has to keep his machinations secret, Wendrichs doesn’t make much of a difference and soon has to deal with the nosy neighbor and his own son.
The complexity of this tragicomedy is comparatively manageable, and the course can be foreseen early on. That’s not too bad, because the debut of screenwriter Maximilian Kaufmann, directed by Ute Wieland, draws attention to the characters and the performance of the actors. For the role of Marko Wendrichs, the production team was looking for someone who seemed like an old acquaintance. They succeeded in doing this with Axel Prahl. Completely without the slapstick otherwise known from the Münster “crime scene”, serious and yet entertaining, he plays the struggling refrigerated goods driver, for whom the dream of a better life, sung about in his favorite hit songs, is getting closer. Prahl used to work as a driver himself, which he said helped him. Roles like that of the pensioner Charlotte Horn (Christine Schorn) are also suitably cast. The appearance of Roland Kaiser towards the end, who wants to give his fan some advice, seems surprising and somewhat detached from the plot.
The problem of precarious employment relationships becomes particularly clear when an employee of the company “Eisland” bursts into anger because of a temporary contract that was unexpectedly terminated. The temporary workers have it even harder than people like Wendrichs. But he also raises questions about justice towards his son: “Is it true that I’ve been driving around frozen pizza for thirty years and at the end of the month I can’t even pay for my heating?”
In the end, Marko Wendrichs’ back isn’t doing much better, nor is his wallet. “Iceland” does not have a redemption narrative, it is a film about the hardships of a working life that most viewers only have to deal with when the supplier is in their own doorway. And “Island” also has a grotesque twist ready.
iceland runs on Wednesday at 8.15 p.m. in the first
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