Oh Boy is the creation of first-time director Jan Ole Gerster. In 2013, the film received the most prestigious German film award, the Lola, and has audiences fascinated by its unique look at everyday life in Berlin.
The film screened during this year’s Sydney Film Festival and attracted quite a crowd on a cold June Thursday afternoon: it was a full house. The film’s director surprised the audience by attending the screening and holding a Q & A session afterwards.
Oh Boy tells the slow-moving story of twenty-something Niko Fischer, a university drop-out who has achieved almost nothing in life. As he informs his father, he spent the previous two years thinking.
“About what?” his father asks.
“About me, about you, about everything,” he replies.
The film depicts everyday events in a very intriguing manner, keeping viewers engaged throughout the film. Humour is an undertone to many of the film’s scenes and is used sparingly so that it never seems overstated – comic relief is provided in just the right dose to keep situations exciting.
The musical score provides a predominantly upbeat jazz tempo that gives a certain flow to the film and reflects Niko’s easygoing nature. But as Gerster notes in the Q&A, the music also portrays city life in Berlin. In more emotional scenes, such as when Niko is confronted by the recount of an old man’s tragic story, a soft piano melody intensifies the emotions evoked in the setting.
Gerster has cleverly used black-and-white film which he claims distances the time and place of the film from the modern world creating a timeless look at Berlin in all its picturesque beauty. Wide shots of ponds, bridges, buildings and even train stations transport the viewer to a nostalgic past. The city portrayed in the film is “charming”, as Gerster notes, with people from all walks of life and multiple subcultures making up this historically-rich environment.
All in all, this ia a great film with a likeable main character who will have you laughing along at his aimless daily encounters.
