Writing my first review here on imdb - precisely because I found this film beautiful and deeply poetic (or poetically profound), while suspecting that many of the reviews here would miss the more subtle points which the writer/ director Ulrich Seidl is making.

Comparisons to Mickey Rourke's "The Wrestler" are obvious and deserved, but they do not detract from the excellent portrayal of the protagonist by Michael Thomas. The crude depictions of sex are not comedic - they are unapologetic and vital to the film's construction of the protagonist's reality, which is vulgar yet also full of pathos (in their depiction of the women's needs and the exchanges of money and desire, for example).

Visually, the film is an enormous pleasure on a big screen. The postcard-like framing of Rimini beachfront landscapes and tacky neon-lit hotel lounges follows more in the tradition of Japanese directors like Ozu - and calmly draws the viewer into the decaying (but intermittently still warm, and pleasurable) reality of old Schlager star Richie Bravo.

The plot is simple indeed - one would expect viewers accustomed to Hollywood roller-coaster rides to be quickly bored or even offended. But numerous details in the film point to much more serious Intentions, with the plot twists at the end making explicit what the director might really be getting at.

Rimini is a site where pensioners and tourists from the cold, prosperous, aging German-speaking nations go on vacation. Yet every frame of the beaches shows miserable African immigrants (probably illegal and unable to secure residence) huddled up or sitting on the ground aimlessly. The seemingly absurd (but not entirely implausible) invasion of Arab refugees (?) at the end turns Richie into a metaphor for the decaying wealth and insularity of Western Europe, cruising into its twilight on past glories, while a new reality (embodied by the daughter's boyfriend but also their shared agenda) is clearly taking over.

The role of music and its artificial construct of joy and longing plays a role too, crystallized by the demented father singing Nazi-Era choruses, in contrast to the pure escapism into the exotic fantasies (Amore Mio, Winnetou) which are Richie's repertoire. Without any explicit confrontation necessary, the contrast of these musical styles also hints at the psychological relationship (but also commonality) between father and son.

I very much enjoyed this film, and although many other films "on the market" offer more gasps or fireworks, the intelligent, sympathetic, subtle, and nonetheless surprising twists in "Rimini" were both persuasive and seductive. It offers an uncommon view into a highly plausible life lived. The casting, by the way, is excellent - the kind where one can hardly believe that these people are portraying anything other than their selves in the real world.

This film will not please viewers at glitzy shopping malls in suburban USA.. it could charm literate viewers who understand the geography of Europe and the lIves of ordinary people living there. (I have lived in Germany for 20 years now. )

This movie follows the has-been crooner Richie Bravo. Still a formidable specimen of a human being, he has sunk low. He sings at near-empty venues, has abandoned his child and the mother of the child in the past, has no money and hustles on the lowest level. Richie is selling himself out as an aging dream-boat to lonely women seeking sexual encounters. He pimps out his own apartment and he drinks constantly. He lies and cheats. The film follows him around in amazing shots of stunning beauty. The contents is sometimes bordering on the unbearable; it can get very explicit. A drunken night, depicted in all it length, is a descent into lowest misery (but no violence). The camera-work is incredible. Strange enough, as the film staggers on, Richie Bravo, the unlikely hero, starts to grow on the audience. He becomes lovable. There is dignity in being a worst-case scenario train-wreck. A study in human humility. The film is definitely an experience; a very strange one.

"Rimini" is a co-production between German, France and Austria that is almost exclusively in the German language or I should say Austrian German because Austria is surely the country most dominant in this release we have here. Nobody should be surprised as the writer and director is Ulrich Seidl and his films always feel very Austrian, not only because of the dialects, even if they take place in foreign countries. I still wonder where the French production component here stems from. Anyway, even if Seidl turns 70 soon, but still looks pretty good for it, you could say that he is kinda reinventing himself here or at least taking paths he has not been on for quite some time. On the one hand, I mean with this that this is his first film in six years and the ones he made before that were two documentaries. On the other hand, I mean that before those, he worked on a trilogy where every film was about a female protagonist and this film he made here focuses on a man in the middle of the story. Seidl loves coming up with parallels between his characters, so another film from him named "Sparta" will be out soon and that one is going to feature the brother of the main character from "Rimini" at the center of the story. We also see the brother here briefly and maybe some people who know about Austrian actors wondered why Georg Friedrich played such a nothing character here and well there is your answer. He will be getting his own movie soon. The two previous documentaries can maybe also be seen as some kind of duology with how little time was between them and how one focuses on the real wild while the other focuses on the wilderness of your basement.

But back to this one here: Seidl once more cooperated with his wife Veronika Franz on the screenplay and the result are these almost two hours. I kinda like Seidl. He has an approach that we do not see too often. Most filmmakers are going for aesthetics, but he is the total opposite. Of course, there are also films and character studies in movies that do not hide the ugliness of certain characters and scenarios, but Seidl really takes it to the next level in terms of what he depicts. I mean I am sure some can perceive this as beautiful as well, but Seidl is not scared of hiding anything ugly when he depicts realities. Sexual realities too. We see topless females on a few occasions, one of them very big towards the end. We see male and female genitalia, but just very briefly and obviously not from very close. Props to the actors there for being ready and willing to show it. This also includes lead actor Michael Thomas of course. He has worked with Seidl before. I remember him in "Paradise: Hope" when he is the sports teacher who makes sure the chubby girl keeps exercising. And all the others too. So I wonder if there is maybe an even bigger connection in Seidl's mind and he is the character from back then in this film here too, but I kinda doubt it because the profession is so different. Here Thomas plays a singer and I actually liked his singing when we hear it on a few occasions. He was not horrible at all. Also nice inclusions of songs from Bata Illic and Udo Jürgens. May the latter rest in peace. As for the cast, I already mentioned Friedrich, but still have to mention Hans-Michael Rehberg as his work with Seidl was the final effort of his career and life apparently and he came back from a few years without acting for this portrayal here. He will also be in the upcoming "Sparta". With this film here, he died during the production. But they still finished many scenes and the tribute at the end of the film cannot be denied. Also that the very final scene features Rehberg's character only and I am sure it was not intended like this from the very start, but they made the decision after finding out about his passing. I kinda assume that at least Rehberg already knew during shooting that the end was near. He plays the protagonist's father, a man still stuck in the Nazi days of his youth and he seems to see them all positively.

The relationship with parents is a crucial aspect in this film. This includes the one between Rehberg's and Thomas' character, even if there is not a great deal of specific elaboration, but also the one between the main character and his mother as we find out she has died and we also see a scene from her funeral where the main character does some singing. And then there is of course the key plot of this film, the main character's relationship with his daughter who reappears after many years in the life of her father. Initially, you would think that she is only there to get money from him, but here and there you could also feel that she was hoping they could make a connection again. And he surely wanted them to do so as well. You can see that during the kneeling scene. This is one reference in terms of domination and devotion. Another one we get relatively early on when foreplay between the main character and one of his sexual partners is depicted, so this is another subject in the movie. With Seidl films, there can also always be talk about how likable the protagonist is in here. It is up to everybody to decide for themselves with this one. I am sure many may have had a problem with his words about his daughter's boyfriend and the company said boyfriend keeps. But this is kinda made up for in the end when you see that he really allows them all in his home, even if he only did it to be closer to his daughter again. The scene when he looks in her room there and asks if she needs something, with her bf next to her like as if she was a little girl, was kinda cute. He is not a racist. Just a man shaped of his time. You can also see that he is not a racist when he is in the company of his father and the father starts singing an old Nazi song and the main character starts singing as well, but in a louder way and a more beautiful foreign number, so the other song cannot be heard. Casablanca anybody? It may be his way to show he disapproves and also maybe he does not want the other people there to hear to make sure his father is not getting into any trouble. Nice attention to detail too at the home for the elderly with the notes on the walls that are supposed to help the old man remember where he is. Nurses or staff we do not really see here.

If you read the name Rimini in the title, you could think that you will see some beautiful places, amazing seaside and lots of sun, a bit like with "Paradise: Love", but Seidl will not give you any of this. There is a parallel between the area where this is set and the main character. Blonde sunny glory days in the past, for Rimini in the same year when there was sun everywhere, but now the glory has kinda gone and it is very stormy, very windy everywhere. Actually, if you look at this film's contents, you can say it is a pretty depressing film in terms of the story and plot and all the subjects included: We have the mother's death. We have the father's ailing health and his sinister views. We have the protagonist who has not cared at all for his daughter. We have the daughter who seems to be in it only for the money. We have the lack of a really loving relationship in the main character's life. We have the man's most frequent sexual partner who is always busy taking care of her own mother, who seems not too far away from death herself. We have the professional struggles of the main character in terms of the singing, even if you have to give props to him for hanging in there. We have him towards the end make promiscuous photos of another character to blackmail somebody and get money out of it. And so on. Oh yeah, this act of blackmailing there is also something that makes it difficult to really see the protagonist in a too positive light before the closing credits roll in, but then again he only uses it to give the money to his daughter there and she is admittedly also not the most likable person on the planet with the way she behaves.

It's not only the father-daughter struggles story that reminded me of the movie "The Wrestler" by Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke most of all. There were more parallels. Admittedly, the protagonist here never faced The Ram's health struggles as this is not a subject here at all, but the two also looked a bit similar I would say here and there. With the singing, you could perhaps also think of "Crazy Heart", but I think this is almost the only connection that both films have washed-up stage performers, so I'd rather go with the Aronofsky movie in terms of parallels between the two. Despite the very different professions. That film is worth watching by the way as well if you liked this one here. Very much so. Actually, both are: "The Wrestler" and "Crazy Heart". As for this one here, I am glad I went and I think this is another good entry into Seidl's body of work and I am glad he is back to film production again. I would still say this is not one of my favorites from him, but this does not mean that this film is weak, only that he has shot some other pretty great stuff. So seeing this one here is also enough on the small screen perhaps. But it deserves to be seen and I once again want to mention Thomas' pretty convincing lead performance as he is in almost every scene of the movie here and I myself am also looking forward to watching "Sparta" then next year hopefully. "Rimini" (Seidl sure loves these very brief titles) gets a thumbs-up and positive recommendation from me and that was never in doubt for a second. There is something quite fascinating to his approach. Maybe the ending could have been a bit better as the scene with the main character's daughter's buddies did very little for me. Maybe it was meant as a contemporary statement on tolerance, but I think the film could have ended on a better note really. If you look at the names of the actors Seidl cast here for very small roles only, this alone is a good enough display of tolerance already. Okay, that is all. Go see "Rimini".