Drei Männer im Schnee

A witty comedy which is not easy to characterise. It is a truthful adaptation of a novel, but it comes without the high-brow baggage we normally expect when we see the words "literature adaptation" on a movie poster; both book and film are very accessible. It is a romantic comedy, but the romance plays second fiddle within the context of the whole story. It is a satire, but its satirical strain is not aggressive, it is more observant. The central theme of the film is the male bonding between three men of different age, different social status, and different education. And yet again, this description is misleading as well, because the film is much less serious than these words suggest. Superficially, this is just well-made fluffy entertainment, well-acted and extremely well-written, but there is a lot more below the surface which rewards repeated viewing.

One thing that always puzzled me is why the "Geheimrat" character has been renamed from Tobler to Schlüter. Did the Swiss chocolate manufacturer "Tobler" object?