”You dropped out of law school? What have you done in the last two years?” - “I was thinking”. Niko is a loveable slacker from Berlin. While searching for plain drip coffee, which seems incredibly hard to find considering the overwhelming choice of brands, astronomical prices and broken coffee machines, Niko is wandering through the city and has quaint conversations with the people he meets along the way. But one day everything changes: His relationship ends, his father cuts off his allowance and a psychiatrist confirms his "emotional imbalance". Niko has to face the consequences of his inaction. Meanwhile, a peculiar beauty from his past confronts him with the emotional wounds he inflicted, but all Niko actually wants is a decent cup of coffee.
Going on two dozen awards and a dozen international film festival presentations, we are happy to bring you the Toronto premiere of the most successful German film of the year:
"It’s all spot-on: from the Swabian latte macchiato seller to the embittered off-theatre director and the brilliant Tom Schilling as Niko.
With plenty of hilarious dialogue and poetic snapshots of urban reality.” said film & TV magazine Hörzu.
And here's an example of the terror of the modern coffee shop we all know, excerberated by Berlin’s rough-around-the-edges notion of customer relations:
“Barista”: So, what’ll be?
Niko: Take out coffee, please.
To go, right? What kind?
Just normal coffee.
Wanna try something new? Today’s offer is the Maroccino. For two Euros extra, you get a chocolate doughnut or seed roll. All homemade and organic.
I think I’ll stick with the coffee.
Sure, we’ve got two kinds: the Arabica or the Columbia Morning.
Which one tastes most like regular coffee?
I like both.
Fine, I’ll take the Columbia.
The Columbia, then. You want milk?
No
We’ve got soy milk.
No, thanks.
OK, then. Three Euros forty, please.
Without today’s offer. Just the coffee.
Yes, three Euros forty, please.
Three forty for a regular coffee?
Yeah, that’s the Columbia.
You could have mentioned that. I’ve got two, twenty, sixty, seventy, eighty.
That’s not enough.
Can’t you make an exception?
No, I really can’t. Otherwise every slacker will want their coffee for free.
Slacker?
Yeah, slacker.
"Oh Boy" is a fleet-footed, smart, silly and satirical comedy with an unexpected happy ending: a large cup of coffee. Decide for yourself what the search for plain coffee stands for in an over-priced, consumer-hyped, faux-choice world.
by Jutta Brendemühl
