Head Full of Honey

Amandus has Alzheimer's; he has lost his wife and moved into his son's house. The household falls apart, the daughter-in-law reaches her limit, and the decision is taken to put him in a home. His eleven-year-old granddaughter Tilda objects, takes him and runs. The one thing Amandus remembers clearly is Venice, where they spent their honeymoon, so that is where they go. The subject is not the illness but a child and an old man occupying the same world. Tilda does not question her grandfather's logic, she goes into it with him, which is exactly what the family cannot do. The form is a road movie whose tone keeps shifting: slapstick, then a hard scene, then jokes again. Those transitions drew the most criticism. Til Schweiger directs and plays the son, and his daughter Emma Schweiger plays the granddaughter. Dieter Hallervorden had been known in Germany as a comedian for many years, and this dramatic role was seen as a departure. The film was among the most-watched domestic productions of its year in Germany. Schweiger later remade the same story in English and that version was sharply criticised. Who it is for: viewers who like family drama and grandparent stories. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a consistent tone; the film keeps turning the illness first into comedy and then into tragedy.