Watch The Day I Was Not Born For Free

Too much of everything

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Masterpiece!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I'm watching as many German language films as I can and this one has the bonus of including a lot of Spanish (my third language). From a learning perspective as opposed to purely entertainment, this is definitely one to watch as it has some great acting and some wonderful scenery.Unfortunately, that's about it. The premise is fascinating and I was really looking forward to watching it but after the first fifteen to twenty minutes, it became clear that the story wasn't going to go anywhere.The "twist" was predictable so this meant that there were no surprises and ultimately the actors didn't have anything to resolve because nothing really happened.It seems like they had a great idea but just didn't develop it very well. As a whole, the film felt very small.6/10

German screenwriter and director Florian M. Cossen's feature film debut which he co-wrote with German producer and screenwriter Elena von Saucken, is a German-Argentina co-production which was shot on location in Buenos Aires, Argentina and produced by Fabian Maubach and Jochen Laube. It tells the story about Maria, a 31-year old competitive swimmer from Germany who is traveling to Chile. Maria's plane makes a stop in Buenos Aires and while she is waiting on the airport, she recognizes a nursery rhyme playing on a radio and is so affected by it that she misses her plane to Chile and loses her passport. After finding herself a hotel in Argentina, Maria contacts the police about her passport and is told to wait. Maria is still intrigued by the song which reminded her of her childhood, but when she surprisingly encounters her father Anton at the hotel where she is staying, he makes a shocking revelation that changes her perception of her own identity.Acutely and precisely directed by first-time director Florian M. Cossen, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character's point of view, draws a humane portrayal of a woman's sudden confrontation with long kept secrets about her origins, her dedicated search for the truth about her family history and her relationship with her father. While notable for it's gritty and naturalistic urban milieu depictions, fine cinematography by German cinematographer and art direction by Victoría Pedemonte, this character-driven, dialog-driven, narrative-driven and conversational directorial debut which examines themes like identity, family relations, betrayal and love contains an efficient score by composer Matthias Klein.This humorous, romantic and poignantly atmospheric parable which depicts two merging and condensed studies of character, is impelled and reinforced by it's stringent narrative structure and the emphatic and involving acting performances by German actress Jessica Schwarzin, German actor and director Michael Gwisdek, Argentinian actor Rafael Ferro and Argentinian actress Beatriz Spelzini. A subtle, gripping and invariably engaging drama which gained, among other awards, the award for Best Cinematography Matthias Fleischer at the 31st Bavarian Film Awards in 2010, the Public Award for the most popular film and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival in 2010 and the award for Best Debut Film at the 32nd Biberach Film Festival in 2010.

I have been going to the Audi festival of German Films for a few years now and i was able to catch this film in this years run of the fest, here in Melbourne.I wont touch on the plot too much as it can be found in the full summary on the main page of the film. What i will say is yes the base story has been done many times, and even with that said this is still uniquely brilliant. Why? well here why i think so.... The movies director Florian Micoud Cossen who also wrote the movie with Elena von Saucken, clearly researched extensively for the writing and making of this film they captured the diverse personalities of buenos Aires city, Argentinians perfectly from the hotel desk clerk to the kiosk owner to the hard to deal with lazy woman police officer, to the talkative joking police man and family culture. This movie made a lot of us laugh in the screening as some of the things said in Spanish were so spot on as to what an Argentinian would say to family or even to a cute girl tourist you would meet at a cafe or hostel. Even a popular kids character Topo Gigio in toy form makes an appearance.The acting is spot on and real the main character played by Jessica Schwarz is excellent, her character is not a naive character which is a trait found in actresses that have been cast in similar roles in other movies. Her character is very strong willed and independent. The acting is flawless by all in this movie it feels and looks natural not forced in any way.This is not a fancy polished Hollywood style movie in fact from what a spokesperson said before the movie its the directors debut and from what i saw i will be keeping my eye open for further films from the director and the acting cast. This movie really leaves you thinking and as someone who knows a lot about south American and European history, one cant help but see that sometimes their are no happy endings in the lives of those affected by atrocities of political nature we can only embrace the future with hope and keep going forward no matter were we are from.

I had the misfortune of having to watch this boring movie.The story has been told a thousand times before: a young adult discovers she was adopted and goes on the search for her real parents.Apart from the fact that this is no original idea for a movie any more (for 50 years I guess) this flick tops it by being extremely boring.Any of the gazillions cheap Sunday afternoon cable flicks showing you the exact same "hunt-for-real-parents" schmooze is better than this epic fail.Germans may make good cars, but they make lousy movies.Don't waste your time.