LWLies 68: The Toni Erd­mann issue

As end-of-year poll sea­son rolled to a close, an unlike­ly vic­tor rose up to defeat all oth­er movie foes. Maren Ade’s Toni Erd­mann had crit­ics going ga-ga from the very first frames of its pre­miere screen­ing at the 2016 Cannes Film Fes­ti­val. With lit­tle fan­fare, this epic com­e­dy instant­ly became the toast of the fes­ti­val, the sub­ject of eager con­ver­sa­tions about how we had a new mas­ter film­mak­er in our midst.

It’s a hulk­ing, hilar­i­ous and pro­found explo­ration of how a father devel­ops an extreme­ly eccen­tric method of recon­nect­ing with his estranged daugh­ter who has entrenched her­self in the cut-throat world of glob­al com­merce. The film is a mod­el of patient, detailed char­ac­ter build­ing and its humour is derived from fas­tid­i­ous craft rather than hop­ing that some flavour-of-the-month stand-up is open to a bit of quick-fire ad-libbing.

We’re so loved up by this movie that we’ve cho­sen to ded­i­cate an entire issue to it, tak­ing a deep-dive into its themes as well as a wider scan into the thorny issue of par­ent-child relationships.

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Our cov­er has been cre­at­ed by the amaz­ing Los Ange­les-based illus­tra­tor Bijou Kar­man, who has tak­en inspi­ra­tion from the film’s cen­tral con­cept of a man assum­ing many secret dis­guis­es to find a way back into his daughter’s heart.

In this issue…

While in Lon­don to deliv­er a lec­ture on screen­writ­ing, the Toni Erd­mann direc­tor reveals the fine art of mak­ing movie watch­ers laugh. Inter­view by Sophie Monks Kaufman

We talk to den­tal tech­ni­cian-to-the-stars Gary Archer to reel off a his­to­ry of mod­ern Hol­ly­wood via the medi­um of false teeth. Words by David Jenkins

We answer the ques­tion on everyone’s lips: can exper­i­men­tal movies ever be fun­ny? Words by Blake Williams

Paul Schrad­er, Park Chan-wook, Alice Lowe, John Waters and many more each tell us a sto­ry of how their par­ents inspired and impact­ed their work as a film­mak­er. Inter­views by Ele­na Laz­ic, Manuela Laz­ic, Sophie Monks Kauf­man, David Jenk­ins, Adam Wood­ward, Matt Thrift.

Need a great com­e­dy movie in your life? We’ve got 100 of them here culled from the his­to­ry of cinema.

Also in this issue…

Elle direc­tor Paul Ver­ho­even speaks to Matt Thrift; Moon­light direc­tor Bar­ry Jenk­ins sits down with Adam Wood­ward; Man­ches­ter by the Sea direc­tor Ken­neth Lon­er­gan is inter­viewed by David Jenk­ins; Jes­si­ca Bar­den dis­cuss­es how she got into act­ing ahead of a ret­ro­spec­tive at the 2017 Lon­don Short Film Fes­ti­val with Sophie Monks Kauf­man; 20^th Cen­tu­ry Women direc­tor Mike Mills chats to David Jenkins.

Elle by Alexan­dra Heller-Nicholas; Silence by Trevor John­ston; LoveTrue by Aimee Knight; Bil­ly Lynn’s Long Half­time Walk by Adam Nay­man; Lion by David Jenk­ins; Moon­light by Charles Bramesco; Miss Sloane by Matt Thrift; Patriot’s Day by Ele­na Laz­ic; Cam­er­ap­er­son by Michael Leader; Fences by David Jenk­ins; Tres­pass Against Us by Phil Con­can­non; Man­ches­ter by the Sea by Sophie Monks Kauf­man; La La Land by Christi­na New­land; Hack­saw Ridge by David Jenk­ins; Jack­ie by Sophie Monks Kauf­man; Sing by Manuela Laz­ic; A Mon­ster Calls by David Jenk­ins; The Fits by Sim­ran Hans; Cer­tain Women by David Jenk­ins; 20^th Cen­tu­ry Women by Sophie Monks Kauf­man; End­less Poet­ry by Anton Bitel; Denial by Trevor John­ston; Lov­ing by Christi­na New­land; Per­son­al Shop­per by Manuela Laz­ic; Rules Don’t Apply by Glenn Heath Jr; The Founder by Ele­na Lazic.

Home Ents reviews of The Roy­al Tenen­baums, Don­nie Darko, Bring Me the Head of Alfre­do Gar­cia, Ghosts of Mars and more; Adam Wood­ward reports from the Los Cabos Film Fes­ti­val; David Jenk­ins pre­views the 2017 Glas­gow Film Fes­ti­val; Ex-Rent Hell presents… Escape to Victory.

LWLies 68 is on gen­er­al sale 7 Novem­ber and will start ship­ping to sub­scribers from 7 Jan­u­ary. Order your copy now via our online shop.