Annette von Aretin

Karl Valentin is the greatest Bavarian comedian... but: maybe it's all just a misunderstanding? In any case, Valentin only saw himself as a folk singer, but he also produced Dadaist works of art and wrote futuristic songs. Today, he has a reputation as a comedian who has somewhat fallen out of time. In this film essay, Andreas Ammers asks contemporary comedians such as Luise Kinseher, Willy Astor, Helmut Schleich and Christian Springer about their relationship to their great ancestor. Above all, however, he examines how Karl Valentin would come across if he were played in High German today.

Based on Annette Kolb’s autobiographical novel of the same name, THE SWING is a lavish, breathless reconstruction of life in Munich towards the end of the 19th century. The deceptively simple story centers around the Lautenschlags, a Bavarian-French Catholic family overflowing with artistry but short on practicalities like financial acumen.