Das Glück von Grinzing Review: Mostly just people drinking wine and singing

If you love dusty 1930s European musicals with lots of accordion music and people drinking white wine in sunny gardens, you will probably find some joy in Das Glück von Grinzing. But if you need a fast plot or clean audio, you will absolutely hate this.

It is basically a cozy postcard from old Austria. The story is so thin you can see right through it, but that is kind of the point. 🍷

The whole thing takes place in Grinzing, which is famous for its wine taverns. Everyone in the film seems slightly tipsy, which honestly makes the acting feel very natural.

Iván Petrovich is here, looking very handsome and singing with a lot of dramatic energy. He has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like he is trying to sell you a used car, but in a nice way.

The music is pretty catchy, though the sound quality on the old print I watched was pretty rough. It actually reminded me of the muddy audio in The Sea Ghost from around the same era.

At one point, Gretl Theimer sings a song while holding a giant glass of wine. She does not spill a single drop, which is honestly the most impressive stunt in the entire movie.

There is also this actor, Ferdinand Hart, who has the most intense face. He looks like he is about to start a bar fight, but then he just smiles and takes another sip of wine.

The movie gets noticeably better once you stop trying to follow the actual story. It is much better as background noise while you do something else, like folding laundry or drinking your own wine.

It has a similar vibe to Alpine Melodies, but with way more taverns and way less hiking. It is just people sitting around being happy for no real reason.

Some of the background extras look completely lost. One guy in a hat just stares directly at the lens for about ten seconds before someone nudges him out of the frame.

The editing is super weird too. Sometimes a scene will just cut to black right in the middle of a sentence.

It is definitely not a masterpiece, and the pacing is pretty sluggish in the middle. But there is a cozy, warm feeling here that you just do not get anymore. It is like finding an old photo album in a dusty attic.