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	Schultze Gets The Blues
	Michael Schorr Horst Krause, Harald Warmbrunn, Karl Fred Müller, Ursula Schucht, Hannelore Schubert, Wolfgang Boos 2003		Oom-pah meets zydeco in the amiable character study/travelogue "Schultze Gets the Blues." Calling to mind the deadpan humor and quirky, slice-of-life approach of filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's early films "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Down by Law," German writer/director Michael Schorr imparts the droll, bittersweet adventures of a retired miner from a small town in the former East Germany. Schultze — played in unfussy, unaffected fashion by Horst Krause — is a pudgy, elderly fellow with a fairly solitary existence. He lives alone, occasionally getting together with his only friends, some fellow retirees. But Schultze is also a devoted accordion player and performs at formal gatherings of the town's staid music club. One night, he's listening to the radio, and he hears a jaunty, Cajun-style zydeco song that changes his life. He forgoes his usual polka repertoire to learn this rather exotic piece on the squeezebox, shocking his friends and neighbors when he plays his new favorite tune, instead of the standard fare, at an annual music-club recital. Despite the negative reaction he gets, he's undaunted. He plans a trip to the United States in order to make a pilgrimage to the Louisiana swamps, home of zydeco music. Although Schultze speaks no English, his enthusiasm carries him along on his offbeat odyssey through an alien land. The movie prospers from the unhurried tempo and folksy milieu that set it apart from the usual.


	Sunday, December 22, 2024





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