Vote for Henryk! (2003)
German national election campaign 2002: Henryk Wichmann from the conservative party is fighting a lost battle in the Uckermark.
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Covers the last month of the election campaign of a young enthusiastic conservative politician to the German parliament ("Bundestag"). The trouble with films about politics is that it's tempting for them to drag out the usual stereotypes ("conservative" = corrupt, "left-wing" = idealistic and naive), but this film avoids that. Instead it concentrates on the daily grind of the election campaign, with the candidate trying to hand out his campaign leaflets and free biro to passers-by who aren't interested, having to fill the base of a stand in a public toilet to stop it blowing over in the wind, and so on. It would be unfair to comment on Herr Wichmann himself, since he is a real person, but overall I found the film surprisingly optimistic about German politics. True, there are no great ideals floating around, but on the other hand the sort of sleaze and corruption we normally associate with politicians is absent. Perhaps the best scene is when Herr Wichmann and three of his rivals are challenged to design a common campaign poster, and they look like four quite normal and nice people.
Dresen manages to show the dilemma of contemporary politics: Wichmann's election campaign confronts him with the problems of society, but this doesn't alter his political views at all. Even when he is speechless by the misery he observes, he does not question his own role. Politics thus remains a game played among candidates, while the electorate takes the role of bored audience or joins in in the most bizarre manner. Wichmann, while devoted to his campaign (and at least to some of his ideas), not only learns to become part of this game, he doesn't even realize the game is flawed. Dresen's directing is brilliant, as he strictly adheres to the "show, don't tell"-rule and refrains from any voice-over commentary.