If the squirrel can’t find its buried nuts, won’t it starve to death? Curt Wieland (Günther Maria Halmer), a retired publisher who had to be cared for due to dementia in old age, asks himself this concerned question. “But no,” reassures him the young Marija (Emilia Schüle), who has moved into his musty but spacious villa as a full-time nurse. “From what you don’t find, a new tree grows”.
But before this growth can take root, a variety of obstacles must be cleared out of the way. This is what this magical film is about, which takes a detour and addresses the issue of the nursing shortage in an unexpected way.
First of all, it is about the fate of the 27-year-old Ukrainian Marija. Actually, she studied German. But now she had to come to Germany to earn money for her five-year-old son as a nurse.
A badly paid backbreaking job. Because Almut (Anna Stieblich), the petulant daughter of the care-needy Curt, has idiosyncratic ideas about caring for her father. Like a robot, Marija is supposed to carry out the care plan, which is timed to the minute. The old gentleman, she believes, would be fine with it. In fact, he suffers like a beast.
That changes when Marija, thanks to her pragmatic, hands-on manner, finds access to the chaotic world of the old man suffering from dementia. The alarm bells promptly rang for the jealous daughter. The pretty Ukrainian has become a competitor and should be sent back home. (“The Forgetfulness of Squirrels”, Arte, Friday, 8:15 p.m).
Like Richard Gere, who buys the love of the call girl Julia Roberts with money
Luckily, a car accident puts the beastly daughter out of action. Unfortunately, Marija doesn’t have time to take a deep breath. Because now Curt’s son Philipp (Fabian Hinrichs) enters the scene, a Porsche-driving wannabe playboy who has seen the film “Pretty Woman” too often.
Like Richard Gere, who buys the love of the call girl Julia Roberts with money, Philipp also showers the attractive Ukrainian with expensive gifts. Marija has to be a bit more rabid…
Nadine Heinze and Marc Dietschreit have already made a film about a borderline illness with “The Missing Gray”. In “The Forgetfulness of the Squirrels”, the director and screenwriter duo now focuses on the problem of dementia. But this serious topic is packed into a light-footed comedy of mistaken identity.
So Curt is convinced that the Ukrainian nurse is his deceased wife. Despite his insanity, he is painfully aware of how badly he has treated his depressed wife all his life. Can something like this be made good again? – At the best moment, Curt and Marija roar in a Mercedes convertible to a tourist restaurant, where he congratulates her on the wedding anniversary: ”You think I’ve forgotten that too.”
In that magical moment, in which Curt delivers a passionate speech about love and fidelity – and to the surprise of the guests at the next table “declares the buffet open” – the demented old man has become a squirrel that finds a nut, who didn’t even hide it.
Günther Maria Halmer usually appears in kitschy nonsense without depth. But the role of this confused old man who spent his life drawing maps – and yet lost his way – is believed to be him. Emilia Schüle convinces as a Ukrainian nurse who is pushed around, who accepts a precarious role reversal and, as a fictional wife, leads a ghostly life of luxury in the brightly colored 70s.
That looks a bit like a fairy tale. But the tragic comedy, balanced with a bit of slapstick and a pinch of black humor, never forgets that the young Ukrainian is still a dependent employee who has a lot of problems. The war in her homeland is just one of them.
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