Die Putzfraueninsel

Extremely unbalanced comedy that never knows to choose between realism and fairy tale. E.g., of all the scenes with the ruthless daughter-in-law it is never clear whether these are meant as funny caricatures or horrible realism In other words: director Peter Timm has no control over the material, he did not really know what to do with it.

All this makes the action hard to accept: how could the so mentally strong grandmother wind up in the cellar in the first place?; this is just not made believable. The son is not only a weak character, he hardly seems necessary for the story. And what about the little girls: why are they in the story; how much do they know? And than I will let the cliches be, but one: the ending can be predicted at the beginning of the film.

Both Jasmin Tabatabai and Christine Oesterlein save this film from complete downfall.