Der Wixxer (; a reference to German "Wichser", ''wanker'') is a 2004 German

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of comparable German

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

s based on works by Edgar Wallace, especially the film '' Der Hexer'' (1964) – a German adaption of ''The Ringer''. The film was directed by and written by Oliver Kalkofe, Oliver Welke and Bastian Pastewka. It is about two policemen, Inspector Very Long (Pastewka) and Chief Inspector Even Longer (Kalkofe) who must find the Wixxer, a gangster who wants to take over

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's crime world.

Plot

The film begins at BlackWhite castle, one of the last castles in

Black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

located in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Residing there is the Earl of Cockwood ( Thomas Fritsch), a notorious gangster. At some point, an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

tourist couple from

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Hall ...

(

Anke Engelke Anke Christina Fischer ( Engelke; born 21 December 1965) is a German comedian, actress, voice actress and television presenter. Personal life Born in Montreal, Canada, Engelke moved to Cologne, Germany in 1971 with her German parents. Early ...

and Olli Dittrich) gets lost in the woods and witnesses a murder: the Monk with the Whip gets run over by a truck. At the wheel: The Wixxer, an evil gangster who wears a skull mask and wants to take over London's crime scene. To do that he arranges for the death of many of the current gangsters.

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

sends its – allegedly – best man, Chief Inspector Even Longer. Since the Wixxer killed Even Longer's partner Rather Short ( Thomas Heinze), a new partner is assigned: Very Long. They start to investigate and suspect the Earl of Cockwood. However, the Earl (who officially raises

pug The Pug is a breed of dog with the physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. An ancient breed, with roots dating back to 400 B.C., they have a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most ...

s and unofficially smuggles

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

s, amongst other things) is affected by the Wixxer's ambitions as well. Their investigations bring the two inspectors back to London where they meet the dubious Harry Smeerlap ( Lars Rudolph, pun with German “Schmierlappen” = creep, ''greasy rag'') and his men, who work for Cockwood. Smeerlap tries to conceal his racketeerings, but Very Long and Even Longer can finally arrest him. At the end they are able to finally identify the Wixxer: it is none other than Rather Short who killed the original Wixxer and assumed his identity.

Background

The film is based on a radio play that Oliver Kalkofe (together with Oliver Welke) performed in the 1990s during his time as a radio host at radio ffn. The film was shot mostly in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, i.e. in Hostivar studios, the Kladnice mine and around

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Three actors ( Grit Boettcher as a waitress, Eva Ebner as Miss Drykant and Wolfgang Völz as Sir John) who appear in this film, also appeared in some of the original Wallace films made in the 60s. Joachim Fuchsberger was approached for a role but, after hearing the title, disgustedly declined. However, after seeing the film on DVD, he agreed to appear in the sequel, ' (2007) (english title "The Vexxer").

Music

The title song "The Wizard" was performed by Right Said Fred and Anke Engelke (as her character Doris Dubinsky). "The Wizard" was originally performed by Madness of whom Kalkofe is a big fan.

Release

The movie premiered on 10 May 2004 in Munich and was released on 20 May 2004. On its opening weekend, it grossed approximately $4,112,430. The film ended its theatrical run with approx. 1,9 million viewers.

Cast

* Oliver Kalkofe as Chief Inspector Even Longer / Woman in dungeon * Bastian Pastewka as Inspector Very Long / Flower seller * Thomas Fritsch as Earl of Cockwood * Tanja Wenzel as Miss Jennifer Pennymarket (Her name is a pun between

Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...

and German supermarket chain Penny Markt) * Wolfgang Völz as Sir John (the name is a regular character from the original Edgar Wallace-movies) * Olli Dittrich as Dieter Dubinski * Christoph Maria Herbst as Butler Alfons Hatler (an obvious parody of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

) * Eva Ebner as Miss Drykant * Thomas Heinze as Rather Short *

as Doris Dubinski * Antoine Monot, Jr. as "Deaf Jack" * Oliver Welke as Doctor Brinkman (His name is a reference to Dr. Brinkmann from '' The Black Forest Clinic'') * Lars Rudolph as Harry Smeerlap * Andre Meyer as Pommeroy * Daniel Steiner as Fitzgerald * Cameo appearances: Günther Jauch, Achim Mentzel, Wildecker Herzbuben,

No Angels No Angels are an all-female Pop music, pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Ludmilla Diakovska, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originat ...

Critical reception

The score by Andreas Grimm was awarded in the ''Best Music'' category at the 2005 German Film Critics Association Awards.

References

External links

* (German, now defunct) * (English, international distributor) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wixxer, Der 2004 films 2004 crime comedy films 2000s German-language films 2000s parody films German crime comedy films Films set in castles Films set in London Films shot in the Czech Republic German parody films 2000s German films Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler German-language crime comedy films