German Film Festival Review: 100 Dinge

What we really need is a sweater and an apple. “100 Dinge” (“100 Things”) tackle the issue facing millennials today: Do we really need all the stuff that we buy online?

Paul Konaske and Toni Katz are best friends who essentially grew up together. In a struck of luck, they sold the app they developed (Paul called it “NANA,” a Siri-like invention which creepily knows all that you want to buy) for a whopping 4 million Euros. But Paul learns that Toni tested the app by using him as a test subject. It was successful, Paul, the ever binge buyer, bought all 151 things NANA suggested. Drunk and humiliated, Paul started a bet: he and Toni will live without any of their things, retrieving just one item they choose each day, for 100 days.

It’s obvious that Director Florian David Fitz (who plays Paul) wants to invoke images of classic films in “100 Dinge,” at the same time, never losing its modern vibe. The film has various subplots but the main plot is a nagging debate of our time: the materialism of this generation. The difference of the past generations compared to ours was explored in length, pointing at the things that we missed in living our life, too engrossed and intent to surround ourselves with material things. I was reminded this one time we were at a top of a mountain, waiting for the sunrise, and all of us are watching the sky, not with our eyes, but through the lenses of our cameras. Paul’s mother aptly asked what’s wrong with this: Wo was di dei? Was so war so wichtig? (Where were you? What was so important?).

“100 Dinge” is a fast-paced film that will not bore you out because of the funny lines thrown by the Fitz and Matthias Schweighöfer (who plays Toni). Their chemistry carries the story but sometimes I feel that it was too much. There were moments that the film seemed to lose its sight on the plot, with the appearance of a girl (of course there is a girl) to highlight the issues of and between Paul and Toni (“We always think we’re best friends. But we just know each other for a long time. There’s a difference”). Despite the common theme of the film, 100 Dinge offers something unique and different that will keep you interested until the end.

Geek Rate

Sky god Worthy (5 out of 5 stars). In tackling a popular issue such as materialism, there’s always a danger to have a film like this to end in a failure, or worst, to get an opposite effect to the message it is trying to deliver. With a nod to classic films combined with an effortless comedy and a different (and refreshing) perspective of the director, “100 Dinge” will definitely make you ask what really is important in life. The message is not always delivered clear, but just like the app NANA, the voice of the film is there.