Der lustige Witwenball: A whole lot of fuss about hairspray

Is it worth your time?

If you have a weird itch for 1930s German slapstick, sure. Otherwise, stay away. This is for people who love watching actors trip over furniture on purpose. If you value plot, logic, or a quiet scene, you are going to hate this.

Honestly, Der lustige Witwenball is just loud. It’s people shouting over each other in beauty parlors, hair dryers flying, and enough frantic energy to power a small city. It’s not exactly Modern Love in terms of nuance, that's for sure.

Ida Wüst is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She has this way of narrowing her eyes that makes you think she’s about to start a fire. Most of the movie is just her and her rival trying to one-up each other with increasingly ridiculous schemes.

There is a scene where a hat gets ruined and the reaction is like someone died. It goes on way too long. The camera just sits there, waiting for someone to stop crying, and it gets really awkward. I think I checked my phone twice.

The slapstick factor

Sometimes the movie hits a stride. Like when a customer gets a bad permanent wave and the whole salon descends into chaos. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Wedding Dumb Bells, just with more curlers and less actual wedding stuff.

• The furniture is basically another cast member.
• The dialogue is 90% screaming.
• Why are there so many people hiding behind curtains?

It’s definitely not a subtle film. You can tell they were trying to squeeze every laugh out of the budget. Sometimes it works. Most of the time it just leaves you exhausted.

It’s a bit like Poor Little Me in how it focuses on a singular, slightly obsessive character. But here, the obsession is just pettiness. Pure, concentrated pettiness.

I don't know why, but the way they use the door hinges as a gag in the second act really got me. Every time someone enters, the hinges screech like a banshee. It’s stupid. It’s completely unnecessary. But I laughed.

Don't look for a lesson here. There isn't one. It’s just people acting like idiots for an hour. Sometimes that’s enough. ✂️