Horst_In_Translation Review of Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz

Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz (1983– )

Some solid episodes, but too many absurd moments, almost caricature-like

[5/10 · 12 February 2019]

"Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz" is a German/Bavarian mini series from 1983, so this one is already over 35 years old and it is one of many mini-series by the late well-respected German filmmaker Helmut Dietl. It consists of 10 episodes between 45 and 50 minutes, so you can watch the entire thing in 8 hours approximately if you intend to, but I suggest 2 or better 3 sitting for this one. Or just skip it. Lead actor is another Helmut, back when this was still a common name here in Germany, Helmut Fischer and he is long gone too, died way before Dietl. But he is still known here in Germany for his long career and this one here may very well be his most famous. If you speak a bit German and have no clue what a Stenz is, then don't worry. This word is not really used anymore here in Germany and I am sure 90%, probably more, of people have never heard it. It basically describes the protagonist here, a man who loves himself more than anybody else and here he shows it to us by his constant attempts to impress young women and get them to be with him. But it is nothing graphic or anything and we don't even find out to which extent (sexually) he is successful because we should perceive him as likable from start to finish. "Hallodri" is a word you could use in Germany too. Fischer in his mid-50s here is joined by Ruth-Maria Kubitsche playing his wife and she is still alive today and seemingly the only woman who can stand the Stenz in the long run and is willing to forgive him his lack of faithfulness. The best episodes in my opinion and maybe the only ones worth seeing were 1, 3, 7 and 8. They were okay and had some funny moments, but eventually it does get a bit repetitive as it is all just about the Stenz' clumsy love stories. Like when he is rejuvenated and acts like a young man again falling in love with a very young woman and telling her she can quite her job etc. and he will pay for everything from now on. So he does, but the woman cares little about him, all about his money. Or another scene when they see a cultural event and Stenz is the only one critical, but really only just because he talked to an influential critic before and this way impresses his wife by seeing through the event's simplicity. Pretty fake. And at the end, there is this bizarre story line about moving to the Bermudas. But this is made up for by the Stenz' idea to say goodbye to everybody, basically every woman he had an interest in at some point and it is true what another character says that this will take him years. It does not sound equally funny writing it, but it was watching. And I think almost nobody could have made the character work better than Fischer. By the way, Christine Kaufmann is in it too, past her Hollywood glory already when she was very young, and she plays one of the biggest supporting characters with more of a connection to Kubitschek's character than Fischer's. There are also some fun performances from other familiar faces like Thomas Gottschalk in the very first episode. Gisela Schneeberger appears in the same episode. Later on you see Sedlmayr, Bayrhammer, Fierek, Wessely yeah the list goes on, but it is never about anybody else than Fischer and his character. A close call for me if I should recommend this one. I'd rather go with a no, but I think you should decide for yourself if this Bavarian humor is your thing. I liked it most of the time, which is probably surprising as I have almost zero connection with Bavaria and come from another completely different part of Germany. So yeah watch the first episode and decide for yourself then because after that one it is not really getting any better, so if you don't like that one (enough) already, then watch something else instead. 2.5 stars out of 5.