In the Aisles

This was an excellent movie about the importance of comradeship and the dignity of work even in a menial job in the modern mechanized and dehumanized work space. The bonding between an steady older man and a young man with a past trying to find his place with the world was very touching. In that, it reminded me of the excellent movie 'Spring Forward' with Ned Beatty and Liev Schreiber.

The physical setting is fascinating. Our guys stock the shelves of some sort of super grocery store where there are endless aisles and the stacks of crates loom 40 feet up in the air. It's like the warehouse at the end of 'Raiders of the Lost Arc', but it's just a grocery store.

Minor note -- even when the guys dream of leaving the aisles, it's to go to other isles, like Ibiza. But I suppose that's an accident of English, not something intended by the German filmmakers.

The screen play surprisingly won best screenplay awards in Athens and Berlin international festivals ,,, The sad truth is the script is sooo slow ,, spread over two long hours which could have been a really good hour 20 minutes top...

The plot is genuine and somewhat purposeful and kinda sad with its harsh truth at some scenes , but the movie had some gabs and definitely more than few unnecessary dull moments.

The cast was perfect though,, Franz Rogowski was perfect for the role with his weirdness facial expressions and voice and Sandra Hüller I loved her in the Oscar winner movie of 2016 "Toni Erdmann" and here she did well.

final thought,, i watched the whole thing with subtitles so if you speak German you might have enjoyed it better than i did ,, but for its meaningful message i think the movie is somewhat recommended .

One might think working in a club warehouse stocking & stacking pallets of goods to feed the consumer market would be menial & trivial, but like all things there lies hidden complexity. To some it's a second chance; to other it's a dead end job (literally). Well acted; engaging. Notes: (a.) I liked the Delta Blues' Son House song's lyrics, "a true friend is hard to find."; "Yes, but bear this in mind." (b.) I wonder to what extent jobs be displaced by robotic cashiers, inventory takers, stackers & pullers? (c.) Sadly, for the environment, I didn't see any indication of recycling or repurposing.of anything.

If you can't imagine how to make an impressive film out of the everyday life and work of a supermarket staff, you should watch this film. This is of course not inconsiderably due to the two - as always impressively acting - main actors Franz Rogowski and Sandra Hüller (plus a no less brilliant Peter Kurth), but ultimately the decisive factor is the warmth and sympathy with which the writer/director Thomas Stuber draws his characters under the most adverse circumstances (= the monotonous work in this juggernaut of a supermarket with its endless aisles and towering shelves) treating each other warmly and respectfully and occasionally celebrate the small unauthorized freedoms. The delicate bonds between Hüller and Rogowski are so adorable in all their clumsiness and speechlessness, nothing more is wished for them other than the main prize in the lottery and great luck. I don't give away too much, I think - everything will turn out differently, of course, but you will still be able to dream and it is and remains a wonderfully charming film.

This movie has a unique nature, it will move your mood to a different level ,it will ring a lot of bills and it will make you wonder a lot about life.

It starts with a beautiful "Johann Strauss" music, then we will be taken into a journey between the aisles of a supermarket, this journey starts with the process of hiring a new employee "Christian", then the events follow to know more about the routine of the employees and their habits during different occasions.

The performance of the actors is the best here, they look as normal people we see everyday, their reactions are normal or not cinematic so they give you the feeling that anyone of us can be in their places.

The background of each character is introduced in a simple way, and to a sufficient extent.

Most of the events happen in the supermarket, but there are some external scenes. However you may wish that all the events remain in the aisles as they have a unique magic that attracts you.

The movie has a message about life that is delivered in a very simple way, but not all of people may catch it in the first time.

The directing added a lot to the nature of the movie, there's a great attention to details and this is clear in the connection between the final scene and the scene in the 9th minute.

Finally, if you ever wondered about the life of people in IKEA or any supermarket, then this movie is recommended for you. You may feel it's elongated as two hours movie, but you may wish if it could stay more. It's not boring and rewatchable.