Fußball ist unser Leben (2000) User Reviews

If you've already seen American Beauty and The 6th Sense, it's worth paying for this film.

[sutok · 7/10 · 25 January 2000]

I am still somewhat surprised about this film. When I saw the title at the beginning of a sneak preview, I feared that the result would be a fan-film for the German club Schalke 04. But it was a film about the *fans* which made the film worth seeing (but not necessarily very good). I especially liked that soccer was even criticized sometimes in the film.

The plot is bloody simple, the characters quite one-sided and boring, but still it is a nice satire on the fans, becoming more an more extreme in their actions. The setting (Gelsenkirchen) is very realistic and typical for both the area and many people who live there.

You don't go twice into this film (except if you are a HUGE fan of Uwe Ochsenknecht), but you don't waste your money if you've already seen Jeanne d'Arc, The Sixth Sense and American Beauty.

Not as bad as one might think

[blumdeluxe · 6/10 · 28 March 2020]

"Fußball ist unser Leben" tells the story of a bunch of hardcore-soccer fans that are in danger of falling apart when a risky bet and a lazy superstar challenge their community.

I pretty much expected the worst from this movie. When you see the posters or teasers, it looks like cheap humor mixed with stereotypes and no depth. And.. in a way this is also what you get, but in a far more clever and empathic way than expected. Yes, the characters are total stereotypes and not what most soccer fans look or act like. And yes, the humor developing from this is sometimes mediocre. But at the same time the film manages to take these characters serious, to depict real, believable relationships and friendships and to find tones of grey between sheer black and white.

All in all this is nothing you have to have seen but it is something to pass the time that is rather a positive than a negative surprise.

Fast Forward

[Karl Self · 25 May 2001]

This is a fairly unsuccessful attempt to make a German movie along the lines of New British Cinema. I could not get warm with either the characters, who come across as one - dimensional and loutish rather than likeable, nor the painting - by - numbers storyline. The only highlight is the acting of Óscar Sánchez, who plays the arrogant football star at odds with his working - class fans.

Not really a bad movie, but I had the feeling that I had seen it all before.