Last One Out of Germany
I.
In the opening minutes of Ulrich Köhler’s new film In My Room, things don’t seem right. In fact, it’s all a bit glitchy, and the unsuspecting viewer might very well wonder whether the DCP is malfunctioning. The scene appears to be the aftermath of a debate for a German election, and we are watching the event via network news raw footage. But the scene keeps jumping ahead. About the third time this happens, it clicks: every time the cameraperson goes in for an interview with one of the (real-life) politicians, there’s an ellipsis. Someone is turning the camera off when they mean to turn it on, an unfortunate rookie error.
Sadly, the offending cameraman is no beginner, but a sad-sack veteran by the name of Armin (Hans Löw), who has worked at the TV station for quite some time. Dishevelled and a bit too convinced of his own charm, Armin appears to be one of those drifting early-30s types who never transitioned from a college-dorm lifestyle to something resembling adulthood. We see Armin clubbing and drinking hard, comically putting the moves on a young girl (Emma Bading) whose mother, it’s implied, he may have gone out with years earlier. He gets her back to his cramped, filthy bachelor pad under a questionable pretext—it seems she may be interested in subletting the place—but alas, Armin can’t seal the deal. He’s too drunk, and makes an unwise remark when she asks to use his toothbrush. The young woman wisely departs the pathetic scene. Even the dulcet tones of the Pet Shop Boys on iTunes can’t get Armin laid.
Despite all this, we are never intended to dislike Armin. He is best characterized as that one friend who just never got his shit together. But Köhler shows us Armin’s tender and somewhat competent side. He leaves the city behind, returning to his exurban childhood home to help his father (Michael Wittenbom) nurse his dying grandmother (Ruth Bickelhaupt). Although they have some disagreements about the nature of her care, it is obvious that Armin is a valued member of his family. This is where he thrives, adding to the overall impression that we are dealing with a man who never entirely grew up. Even the arguments Armin has with his dad and stepmom (Katherina Linder) seem like rehashes of fights they have all been having for years.
[] Following his grandmother’s death, Armin tries to visit his mother. She is otherwise occupied by a choir rehearsal, so he drives his car to the river and falls asleep after several beers. When he wakes up, it appears that every other human being on-style twist, in which he happened to be protected by his blood-alcohol level and the specific metallic composition of his Mercedes?)
