Easily one the most respected German actors of his generation, Daniel Brühl has starred in a number of international productions including The Bourne Ultimatum, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and as a sadistic Nazi officer in the Holocaust drama The Zookeeper’s Wife. It was, however, his role as Alex in the critically acclaimed Good Bye, Lenin! in 2003 that catapulted him to international stardom, making him one of the busiest European actors around.
Bruhl’s latest film is like no other project he has worked on before. The actor not only stars, but has also directed and produced this darkly comedic drama in which he plays a fictional version of himself — Daniel, a famous German actor on his way to London for a an audition in a superhero blockbuster movie (think Marvel).
Since he’s early for his flight, Daniel decides to make a detour and grab a coffee at his local cafewhere he is immediately accosted by Bruno (played wonderfully by Brühl’s Goodbye, Lenin! co-star Peter Kurth) , an unimpressed and seemingly disgruntled neighbour. The two get into a series of verbal clashes with Bruno berating his famous neighbour over his latest work and overall career.
It’s safe to say that there is a fair bit of self-flagellation here from Brühl. His film plays out almost as two-hander between him and Kurth, with a few interruption from a series of local characters and admirers vying for the actor’s attention. Broaching a number of themes from the reunification of Germany, to gentrification and inequality in Berlin , Next Door does a good job of laying out the actor-turned-director’s own insecurities as a liberal voice in his home country.
The film feels almost like a mea-culpa from an actor who suspects he’s outgrown his own local public, but is still keen to have their admiration, no matter how phoney it may be. It is a brilliantly devised and handsomely written commentary on modern Europe and its inequalities. Luckily for us though, it is also very funny, if not exactly lighthearted.