THE GOLDFISH

THE GOLDFISH (DIE GOLDFISCHE), 2019
Germany | DCP, Color, 111’ | German
Director: Alireza Golafshan
Cast: Tom Schilling, Jella Haase, Axel Stein, Kida Khodr Ramadan, Birgit Minichmayr

Oliver is a high-rolling portfolio manager. As he is trying to make it to a meeting, he drives his car to the opposite lane, whizzing into a horrible accident. He wakes up from a coma to find that he is paralyzed and needs to recover at a rehabilitation facility. This three-month rehabilitation is meant to prepare him for the rest of his life where he needs to be in a wheelchair. However, what Oliver actually wants is to get out of this “prison for the disabled”. To make things worse, the Internet connection is dismal. As he tries to get a better signal, he finds himself inside a house where a group of disabled are living together. The name of the group is as odd as the group itself: “The Goldfish”. Although Oliver ignores his new limited capabilities, the realities force him to develop a risky plan, and he sets off on the road to Zurich with “The Goldfish”. The goal is to transport a large sum of dirty money across the border. Alireza Golafshan's first feature length film is an amusing and crazy road movie. This comedy filled with disabled characters is neither politically correct nor asks the audience to have pity on these characters, and is thus both very contemporary and very humane.