Die Aufschneider (4 Stars)

This film is a rarity. It's a German comedy film that is actually funny. The title is difficult to translate, since it's a word play. "Aufschneider" as a noun refers to someone who boasts about himself, a braggart. On the other hand, the verb "aufschneiden" means to cut open, so there's a secondary meaning of someone who cuts things open. Both apply to this film, since it's about a team of surgeons in a small old-fashioned hospital who have to prove that their hospital is better than the big modern hospital next door.

The film starts with a local government official telling the hospital boss that it's inefficient for two hospitals to stand side by side, so after a 10-day inspection it will be decided which of the two will have to close. Enter a marketing expert who says that the hospital should be run more like a holiday camp. The doctors and nurses are encouraged to dress up in sombreros and sing and dance for the patients.

Unfortunately they don't know that the government official is being bribed by the other hospital. He will save it in return for being given a new liver. This leads to hilarious situation comedy in which the two hospitals steal blood from one another, kidnap patients and even capture doctors to cut them open and use their internal organs. This is a film well worth watching, if you can understand German.

Click here to view the trailer.