Sylvie Michel: “More Than Strangers”: The deeper meaning of Duck 18

The current news situation about the global sources of fire, the role of Europe and the division in society – not just here in Germany – proves even more how important it is to focus on solidarity, charity and acceptance of diversity,” writes Director Sylvie Michel in the director’s commentary on her new film “More Than Strangers”. She wanted to make a “comedy about Europe” “because humor connects people across all differences – even if nationalism and xenophobia continue to spread.”

The concern behind the film production was obviously primarily moral, perhaps political, from the outset, and that unfortunately shows too strongly in “More Than Strangers”. The characters are less characters than representatives of certain social problems; A stringent story is dispensed with in favor of a sequence of episodes in which various current social conflicts are reflected.

The characters are less characters than representatives of certain social problems.

–

As a vehicle for this type of filmic commentary on “the news situation,” Michel chose a kind of chamber play in a car in which her five protagonists travel together from Berlin to Paris via a rideshare. So there are five strangers, and it soon becomes clear that they all have more or less serious problems – with the possible exception of Chris (Samuel Schneider), who is mainly noticeable because he smokes weed all the time.

As a refugee, George (Léo Daudin) has no valid papers with him, which is why he has to hide from the police; Sophia (Smaragda Karydi) is on the run from her husband, who neglects her but doesn’t want to let her go; Julia (Julie Kieffer) wants to visit her boyfriend in Paris, whom she isn’t sure whether she really loves, while at the same time fighting for her job at a Berlin start-up; and the driver of the car, Patrick (Cyril Gueï), just wants to get to Paris as quickly as possible because his heavily pregnant wife, who is waiting for him there, could go into labor at any time. However, the travel group only makes very stuttering progress because they are constantly being held up – there are regular displays informing them how far it is still to Paris.

Significantly, “More Than Strangers” is always particularly revealing when it doesn’t take up political topics, but concentrates on its characters, when Michel lets her actors act and shows the enormous pressure the characters are under and why that is. All five are late capitalist monads, nervous, annoyed, impatient, suspicious; Michel and her cameraman Patrick Orth make this latent irritation, which quickly leads to a hostile atmosphere in the car, noticeable.

The longing for tenderness that builds up within the relentless competition and performance society and which is expressed in the rather sudden flirtation between Julia and Chris is also understandable and plausible. The brief moment in which they kiss is one of the strongest scenes in the film, because there is hardly anything relaxed or contemplative about this kiss, but instead two permanently overstimulated people give in to the longing for something close because of their loneliness and pressure to perform.

It’s well acted and beautifully staged, and the bullshit talk that the two “lovers” spew hits the mark: When asked whether he painted the duck that adorns his T-shirt himself, Chris clarifies Julia says: “No, I didn’t paint them myself. A badass artist painted them.” Then Chris shows her the back of the shirt, which has an “18” emblazoned on it, and Julia asks: “For your 18th, or what?” – “No, that’s Duck 18, that was my father’s friend’s favorite Vietnamese. Duck 18.» And anyone who thinks this kind of infernal nonsense talk is exaggerated has probably never taken a tram in a hip German city.

Such successful satirical sequences are rare in “More Than Strangers”; instead, Michel concentrates too much on her moral treatises, and that soon becomes exhausting not only for her protagonists, but also for the audience. Sometimes the tour group is stopped by an apparently racially motivated police checkpoint, sometimes by Sophia’s abusive husband, sometimes they have to take detours because of George’s fear of the police. But this doesn’t make for a coherent story. For example, Sophia’s husband, who was previously furious and took personal risks, disappears as suddenly as he appeared. Apparently he just changed his mind.

Neither the tour group nor the film ever really gets going. Michel’s moral sense of mission means that we are confronted with all sorts of rather superficial considerations, the characters and their problems are sometimes pure clichés, and the group’s solidarity with the refugee ultimately doesn’t cost more than a small detour. The film does not develop a perspective for a solidarity-based society in which those suffering from social conditions come together in order to be able to fight in an organized manner against capital and patriarchy.

“More Than Strangers” always works quite well when the clichés presented are processed satirically, which Michel rarely manages to do. So what remains of the good idea of ​​bringing the eroding cohesion within Europe to a head on a small cinematic stage is little more than banal reflections and the usual appeals for tolerance and compassion.

“More Than Strangers”, Germany, Greece 2023. Director: Sylvie Michel. With: Cyril Gueï, Smaragda Karydi, Julie Kieffer. 100 min. Start: 22.8.