In his gentle comedy German director, actor and screenwriter Fabian Stumm explores the absurdity of everyday life.
From its very start, Sad Jokes (Fabian Stumm, 2024) introduces its characters in an unusual way: what looks initially like a family reunion – a man, Joseph, returning home to his companion Sonya, mother of their young son Pino – is actually an intervention. Joseph is gay and Sonya, the friend with whom he decided to bring Pino into this world, has just run away from the clinic where she was institutionalized for depression, and Joseph and Sonya’s mothers have joined forces to convince the woman to return to the clinic.
We then follow Joseph, Sad Jokes’ unlikely hero, as he walks through his daily life and his relationships (or lack thereof). Joseph keeps repeating (mostly to himself) that “all is good”, but that’s not quite true. His predicaments remind us of Woody Allen’s, especially since Sad Jokes establishes its absurdist tone by opening up with a prologue showing us random people telling the camera mostly unfunny jokes, as if trying out a skill that they haven’t really mastered. Likewise, Joseph’s existential problem in a nutshell is that he is at odds with his life both as a filmmaker whose new script is supposed to be a comedy but actually deals with suicide, and as a romantic man looking for a meaningful relationship after a painful breakup, hooking up instead with a guy who can’t deal with Joseph’s being a single father.
Director, screenwriter and actor Fabian Stumm embodies Joseph as a warm and affectionate 40–something man trying to take everything in stride, incapable and unwilling to transform his daily frustrations into anger and aggression towards others. He is somewhat representative of his generation and its difficulty in navigating uncertain existences which seem to take nonsensical turns at odd times.
Sad Jokes portrays the comical side of even the most dramatic events – such as having one’s hand caught inside a vending machine and ending up in a hospital’s emergency room – but, like Joseph, the film is unwilling to transform reality into slapstick for mere commercial purposes. The protagonist’s lanky physique, his awkward charm and gentle demeanor make him a contemporary and endearing leading man – even if his life seems to be leading nowhere at present. And all the quirky characters that surround him create a surreal and comical foil.
Stumm’s direction is appropriately spare and economical, providing space for the laconic, slightly surrealist tone which builds up to Sad Jokes‘ endearing conclusion, and makes us look at the irony of quotidian life with tenderness and even a moderate degree of hope.
Paola Casella
Edited by Jason Gorber
© FIPRESCI 2024