Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche

The films of Clemens Klopfenstein have been screened in Rotterdam for decades. In this typical Klopfenstein film, we again see the comic duo Polo Hofer and Max Ruedlinger. This time, they form an acting couple from Bern looking for their former director to persuade him to make a sequel to a previous work they had performed together (Das Schweigen der Männer). After a grueling journey through the winter Apennines filled with obstacles and bizarre excursions into an erotic and a philosophical film, they eventually find their director. He has meanwhile surrendered himself to ascetism and is more interested in decline. He persuades the couple to play a role in a Franciscan film. When they get lost in the Sibilline forest during shooting, it turns out that the director has disappeared. They call and call, but there’s no one there to come to their aid. The charm of focused improvisation and typical Klopfenstein humour and satire help make St. Francis Birds Tour into a crazy story. It is a costume film, a home movie and a film experiment rolled into one. With Klopfenstein himself in a pretty large role, the story refers with healthy level of irony to his earlier work. A pointed, intelligent and light-hearted commentary on himself. (GjZ)

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