100 Dinge – Review

100 Dinge (3,5 Stars ***)
Opening: December 6
Germany 2018
Directed by: Florian David Fitz
Writing Credits: Florian David Fitz
Principal Actors: Florian David Fitz, Matthias Schweighöfer, Miriam Stein, Hannelore Elsner

We own stuff. Way too much stuff. The average person owns about 10,000 items, to be more accurate.

While we post our Avocado lunch, upload our latest selfie and inform everyone of our #ootd, we somehow manage to accumulate tons of things, it seems. All of course, which are dear to us and have some strange sense of sentimental value to us, which is why we tell ourselves that we can’t get rid of it.

Yet, Pinterest, Instagram & Co. are full of decluttering 101 tips, minimalistic praises, insights of tiny houses and digital detox how-to’s. The movement towards awareness and simple living is on its run and so it seems naturally taking advantage of that momentum and make a movie about ridding oneself from unnecessary possessions and concentrate on what is really important. What would that be now?

Paul and Toni are best friends since childhood. A match made in heaven. Toni and Paul love their stuff. Though Toni’s obsession lies primarily in grooming and pampering his body like a temple, accumulating all things necessary to keep up a fit lifestyle, Paul on the other hand is a shopaholic, with a pile of unopened online shopped boxes and numerous white sneakers that all look the same and his true love: his cellphone.

When the two buddies strike the deal of a lifetime and believe they have it all, they challenge each other in a drunken argument to rid themselves of all possessions and to live without anything for 100 days. Each day they shall be allowed to retrieve one item out of storage. As they wake up naked, and cold in Berlin’s winter, realizing what they have done, the competition is just getting started. We find out where their priorities really lie, when Paul and Toni have to decide every day what item they want to pick up next. Are pants more important than shoes? What day would they pick up their cell phone? All these questions, make this journey a fantastic ride for the audience, until it takes a fatal turn. A woman enters the picture. The mysterious Anna turns Toni’s world upside down, not only endangering the entire bet but also Toni and Paul’s friendship…and the movie, I would argue.

What was so effortlessly deep and meaningful, yet very funny and entertaining, was about to show us that we might really only need one pair of shoes and our lives are more than the sum of our possessions. Then, the 100 Dingeintroduces a woman, smacks the love theme into our faces and leaves us baffled and embarrassingly alone. Everything about this romance seems unreal and fake.

Love is like a fart, if you have to force it, it’s probably shit. This seems to be the case in this movie. The first half of 100 Dingeis brilliant, picks up our 2018’s Zeitgeist perfectly, but then hits the wall in the second half.

Love the soundtrack, love the theme and just ignore the poor romance, then this movie can be a top pick for this winter’s movie season.