Stuck on the sand in Eine Seefahrt, die ist lustig

Is it worth the time?

Honestly, only if you have a very specific craving for black-and-white German seaside charm. If you want high stakes or snappy pacing, you'll probably hate this. It moves about as fast as the tide coming in. 🌊

The whole thing is built around this widow hovering over her daughter's love life at a North Sea resort. It’s not exactly high art, but there’s a weirdly cozy vibe to the beach scenes. You can almost smell the salt air and the old wool coats.

Fritz Genschow and the rest of the crew are playing it pretty straight, which makes the silly matchmaking attempts feel even more desperate. There's a moment near the pier where the dialogue just drags on forever. You start looking at the background extras just to see if anyone is actually enjoying themselves.

It reminds me a bit of the stuffy social maneuvering in The Ware Case, though clearly with a lot less mystery and a lot more sand. It lacks the punch of something like La Cucaracha, which just goes to show how different these eras felt.

Odd little notes:

• The lighting on the beach looks like they were trying to hide the fact that it was probably freezing.
• Hilde Krüger has this look on her face in the second act that says she'd rather be anywhere else.
• The transition between the train arrival and the hotel lobby is hilariously abrupt.
• They really committed to the hats. Everyone has a hat. Always.

It’s not a film that stays with you, but it’s fine for a slow Sunday. Sometimes it feels like watching a home movie that accidentally got a budget. Don't overthink it. It’s just people walking on sand and talking about marriage until the credits roll.