‘Willkommen bei den Hartmann’, a light comedy about the refugee crisis from Germany

Culture&Arts Nilgun Salim
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‘Willkommen bei den Hartmann’ (Welcome to the Hartmann’s) grossed over 240 million at its premiere launching on 3^rd November. The impressive numbers turned the German comedy into the best box hit of this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie, which focuses on the refugee crisis from Europe was directed by Simon Verhoeven and scored $2.1 million dollars only in the last weekend, with almost 230,000 tickets sold.

The film is just about to exceed the success reported by Verhoeven’s previous film ‘Männerherzen’ (2009), which grossed 20.3 million dollars only in Germany.

The main role is portrayed by actress Senta Berger, who plays the role of a wealthy woman from Munich (Angelika Hartmann) who decides, following the open-policy promoted by German chancellor Angela Merkel, to ‘adopt’ an African refugee portrayed by Belgian actor Eric Kabongo.

After obtaining her object, despite her husband’s disapproval and other issues of cultural differences, including the xenophobic reaction of the couple’s frightened neighbors, Angelika manages to bring Eric home.

The combination of the current political topic, the ‘light’ humor and the star-studded distribution, which also includes Elyas M’Barek and Florian David Fitz, Simon Verhoeven’s film is a genuine blockbuster, says The Hollywood Reporter.

‘Willkommen bei den Hartmann’ is the only German movie ranked in the top ten box office from Germany, dominated by American blockbusters.

The migration topic is not easy to talk about in Germany and to use this topic for a film is certainly a courageous gesture.