20.12.2024

The Movie

1944, 80 years ago, the movie, named after the hot alcoholic drink and produced by Heinz Rühmann who also played the star role, was launched in the cinemas. 80 years later it continues to be broadcasted in TV every Christmas and made it to cult status. Every year at many universities brandy punch parties are celebrated in that period. A quote from the novel with the same name prefixes the Movie: „This Movie is a laudation to the school, but may be it doesn’t notice.”

The Story line

The successful author Johannes Pfeiffer is enjoying a brandy punch with a few older fellows. After their wallowing memories of time in school he as a former private pupil decides to go incognito to a public grammar school again.

The teachers „mustache“ (Prof. Crey) as a spiritual teacher for chemistry and Prof Boemmel as a relaxed teacher for physics with a Rhenish sense of humor are easy victims of the hoaxes Pfeiffer organizes in charge of the class. On the other hand there are the prussianly strict teacher for history, Dr. Brett, who is a hard nut to crack for Pfeiffer and the Director Dr. Knauer (“Zeus”), who keeps bristling at the ongoing lapses of the pupils. Pfeiffer later falls in love with Knauers’ daughter, proposes to her and at the same time discloses his true identity.

Analog versus Digital

The audience is put back to the beginning of the 20th century, a life which would be unimaginable today. There is a horse buggy, wooden school forms and a picture of emperor Wilhelm I. There are no cars, no dishwashers, no TV’s, no computers and no smartphones. There was indeed a time when people lived without all that. Today nobody is willing to waive all the comfort which is a given nowadays.

In particular smartphones with Apps for everything have built up an entire digital world with unprecedented opportunities. The same smartphones however caused an increasing dependency, with elements of addiction, social isolation and disappearance “to another world”.

Humor versus indignation

In several sequences one can smile at the indignation of Director Knauer or Prof. Crey about the lack of discipline and respect of the pupils. 120 years later indignation has grown and spread widely. Shitstorms developed a digitally accelerated frequency, speed and intensity to an extent that Blogsites and books discuss topics like so called Corporate Shitstorm Management.

In the movie the indignation of Director Knauer and Prof. Crey got nowhere at the end of the day. It was always Prof. Bömmel who coped with the challenge by taking things with a sense of humor. Sometimes one might think that humor should be given back some room nowadays.

Hierarchy versus collaboration

The same class which steals the shoe of Prof. Bömmel and pretends to be drunk in Prof. Crey’s lesson jumps up, stands still and spiritedly and with one voice shouts “Good Morning” once Dr. Brett enters the classroom. Discipline, chastity and order were the basement of a good education. 120 years later education but also leadership in business fortunately has developed further. Rearing was replaced by development, authority by collaboration and discipline by empowerment. That cleared the way for creativity, engagement and individual responsibility. And Prof. Bömmel took also the stolen shoe with a sense of humor.

120 Years ago there was a lot of good stuff, so is today – a matter of perspective.

The blue link below will bring you to the legendary sequence from the lesson in physics.