Pappa Ante Portas

Pappa Ante Portas
Directed by	Loriot; Renate Westphal-Lorenz;
Produced by	Horst Wendlandt
Written by	Loriot
Starring	Evelyn Hamann; Loriot;
Music by	Rolf A. Wilhelm
Cinematography	Gérard Vandenberg
Edited by	Annette Dorn
Distributed by	Tobis Filmkunst
Release date	February 20, 1991;
Running time	89 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Pappa Ante Portas is a 1991 German comedy film directed by Loriot, who also played the leading role and wrote the script, and Renate Westphal-Lorenz. This was Loriot's second and final feature film, after 1988's Ödipussi.

Synopsis

Heinrich Lohse is a manager at the "Deutsche Röhren AG", a pipe manufacturing company, who increasingly tends to lose control. After ordering a 40-year supply of typewriting paper and erasers (because of quantity discount), his boss forces him to retire.

Confronted with this new situation, Lohse's family reacts in shock. It turns out Heinrich's wife Renate and his son Dieter were quite comfortable with the absent husband and father and do not want to see their situation disrupted. Heinrich, however, refuses to allow his career to end and immediately begins to rearrange the Lohse household based on his questionable managerial skills. This leads to a steadily increasing series of conflicts with his wife, son, and friends that get more and more bizarre.

Starting out with buying a ridiculous amount of mustard to get discount, Heinrich finally invites a film crew to shoot a television series in the Lohse household in order to impress his wife. The more he tries, however, the worse it gets, and Renate seriously questions their marriage.

In the end, both visit the birthday party of Renate's mother at which conflicts of other family members are revealed that seem even more dramatic than those of Heinrich and Renate. By realizing this, both accept their new situation and try to find together again as a couple. The last shot shows Heinrich and Renate playing a very amateurish recorder concert in their living room in front of their son Dieter and Mrs. Kleinert, their cleaning lady.

Cast

Loriot as Heinrich Lohse / Grandpa Hoppenstedt / Lothar Frohwein / violinist
Evelyn Hamann as Renate Lohse
Irm Hermann as Hedwig, Renate's sister
Hans-Peter Korff as Hellmuth, Hedwig's husband
Dagmar Biener as Brigitte Mielke, a neighbour
Ortrud Beginnen as Gertrud Mielke, Brigitte's sister
Inge Wolffberg as Mrs. Kleinert, cleaning lady
Gerrit Schmidt-Foß as Dieter, the Lohses's son
Hans-Helmut Müller as Ernst Drögel, chocolate manufacturer

Background

The title "Pappa ante portas" alludes to Hannibal ante portas! ("Hannibal before the gates!"), an often-cited Roman call referring to Carthaginian commander Hannibal on his way to Rome to conquer it in 211 BC. Pappa is an alternative spelling of German "papa" (dad). Director Loriot said it would be a family's best-known call of fear and thus would fit perfectly with his story.

The film was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, with most outside scenes being shot in Berlin. The final scene in which the birthday party is held was shot at Ahlbeck Pier.

Commercial success

Approximately 3.5 million people saw the film in movie theaters. This makes it the most successful German movie production in 1991. In the same year, due to its commercial success, the film received the 'Goldene Leinwand'.

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External links

Pappa Ante Portas on IMDb
Pappa Ante Portas at AllMovie

References

"Pappa ante Portas", DVD, Universum Film GmbH, ASIN: B002H2WR5K

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