Trust me, this movie is more funny than sad! I was so happy to see SAD JOKES at TIFF as part of my “Throw A Dart, Take A Chance” portion of watching movies by attending a screening knowing NOTHING about it going in.
The TIFF Lowdown: Set in Berlin, this tender, tragicomical second feature from writer-director-actor Fabian Stumm (following Bones and Names, which premiered in the 2023 Berlin Film Festival and travelled to more than 20 festivals around the world) heralds a filmmaker aware of his strengths and his limits. A series of autofictional vignettes, ranging from the touching to the absurd, tells the story of Joseph (Stumm) and Sonya (Haley Louise Jones), close friends co-parenting a young child, Pino (Justus Meyer, whom Stumm parents with actor Susie Meyer in real life). While Joseph is wrestling with the concept of a new film — as well as his own ego — on the heels of a fresh breakup with his boyfriend Marc (Jonas Dassler), Sonya is in a clinic, suffering from deep depression. Alongside Sonya’s mother (Hildegard Schroedter), Joseph steps in as primary parent and moves to juggle his family and personal life — including delightful attempts at dating — with his ravenous artistic ambition.
Reaction: SAD JOKES surprised me a bit in its opening sequence, featuring some quick cuts of people being interviewed and telling jokes. Then the movie actually begins in an unbroken shot that is pretty brutal and harsh, which I thought would be the rest of the style of the picture. But once the movie settles in, it becomes a light mixture of some of the comedy of Mike Leigh (who also has a movie at the festival this year) and even hints of Swedish master Roy Andersson, who is famous for his long unbroken static shots. This very human story of connections all across age and backgrounds gets a lot of mileage out of being absolutely real and honest, and I absolutely loved watching all of the interactions and dialogue which feels like we’re really peaking in on these people’s lives.
I only felt a few sequences to the end went on a touch too long, but overall the picture clearly comes from a filmmaker passionate about his material and his characters. On TIFF terms, this is a pretty small movie and I admit that I may not have seen this if I didn’t have a spot open in my screening schedule. Don’t let this one fall by your radar….if you are into foreign cinema and interested in unique and original visions, SAD JOKES will absolutely work in your favour. Highly recommended you seek it out!
Thanks to TIFF Media for assistance with this reaction article. This is one of the many movies playing at TIFF this year. For more information, point your browser to www.tiff.net!