REHRAGOUT-RENDEZVOUS

After the great success of the previous films, of which the last three Leberkäs Junkie, Kaiserschmarrn Drama and Guglhupfcake Squadron alone attracted over a million viewers each, the latest installment in the cult series, VENISON STEW RENDEZVOUS, was released in August and chalked up more than 420,000 admissions in the first four days. This was not only the best start of the franchise, but also the second most successful opening weekend of a German film this year.

This time the cozy village order of Niederkaltenkirchen is shaken up: Grandma goes on strike, Susi rules and Franz is demoted to sandbox cop. At least there are still murders with reliable Lower Bavarian regularity.

„What‘s for dinner?“ „Nothing.“ A big bang at the Eberhofer farm: Grandma (Enzi Fuchs) is on strike! After what feels like 2000 pies and even more roast pork, bread dumplings and Kraut, grandma decides to rid herself of all future family duties. Hell breaks loose! Papa Eberhofer (Eisi Gulp), Franz (Sebastian Bezzel), Leopold (Gerhard Wittmann) and Susi (Lisa Maria Potthoff) must finally learn to look after themselves for a change. Now, of all times, Susi is appointed as deputy mayor and temporarily takes over Niederkaltenkirchen‘s town hall, reducing Franz‘s position to a part-time job with her newfound power, so that he can take care of son Pauli from now on. This official measure touches Eberhofer‘s masculinity severly. Fortunately, it doesn‘t take long until a crow picks up a human ear, and what seemed like a deadlocked missing persons case surprisingly evolves into a tricky murder case that once again unites Franz and Rudi (Simon Schwarz) as investigative dream team in top form.

I. SWEET BUNS BLUES

Local village cop Franz Eberhofer is just winding down when events in Niederkaltenkirchen start winding up: “Die, you pig!” is written in red letters on the local school principle home . Shortly thereafter, the principle himself is found dead on the railway tracks. Was it suicide? Murder? Either way, the laid-back Bavarian tranquility is now officially gone.

II. WINTERPOTATO DUMPLINGS

Franz Eberhofer and his investigating buddy Rudi, are confronted with a series of bizarre deaths, all involving the Neuhofer family, who seem to be dying – one after the next – from the strangest things. While Franz’s boss insists on the deaths being a series of unfortunate coincidences, Franz and Rudi are convinced that something is rotten in the state of Niederkaltenkirchen…

III. PORKHEAD AL DENTE

Franz has been left by his on-again, off-again girlfriend Susi, who informs him that she’s heading to Italy to make a fresh start with her Ital­ian admirer because Franz refuses to make any kind of commitment. Plus he’s distracted by the unpleasant matter of an escaped psychopath who’s out for revenge…/p>

IV. WHEATNOODLES AFFAIR

A very hung-over Franz is woken up by a heavily armed tactical unit. It turns out that his colleague has been found dead with a knife in his back and it appears that the murder weapon is Franz’s pocket knife. Good thing that Franz’s old hippie dad provides his son with a fake alibi to free Franz to let him carry out the murder investigation…

V. SAUERKRAUT COMA

As a “disciplinary measure”, Franz is being transferred to Munich, which means sharing a tiny apartment with his wacky buddy Rudi and hav­ing Thin Lizzy, his arch enemy, as his boss. No wonder Franz can’t wait to return to home but his formerly pimple-faced classmate “Fleischi”, now a successful businessman, has surfaced and is hitting on Susi while his dad finds a dead woman’s corpse in the trunk of his car. Time for Franz to sort out matters…

VI. LEBERKÄS JUNKIE

Franz must face his greatest adversary to date: cholesterol! Besides his insomnia and massive Leberkäs withdrawal symptoms, Franz on top has to deal with a steady flow of stinky baby diapers. Susi, in an emancipatory move, has handed over their son Paul to him and though Franz manages his father job quite well, his idyllic home village is marred by a series of arson, murder and corruption.

VII. KAISERSCHMARRN DRAMA

The carefree life of Franz is again under threat. It’s not the murdered local “Webcam Girl” but his pushy co-investigator, Rudi who is disturbing Franz’ peace. Rudi is relegated to a wheelchair after an accident he naturally blames Franz for. To make things worse Franz’ girlfriend Susi, has joined forces with Franz’s unloved brother, Leopold, to build a semi-detached home with a joint sauna right next to the family farmhouse…

VIII. GUGLHUPFCAKE SQUADRON

Franz is faced with mafia-like bill collectors, while the villagers all have fallen into lottery fever until the lottery store blows up. Once again, chaos has broken out and Franz will have to solve the case before he can get back to the relaxed state he yearns for.

IX. VENISON STEW RENDEZVOUS

This time the cozy village order of Niederkaltenkirchen is shaken up: Grandma goes on strike, Susi rules and Franz is demoted to sandbox cop. At least there are still murders with reliable Lower Bavarian regularity.

photo © Constantin Film