Goethe Kino: Toni Erdmann

Winfried doesn't see much of his working daughter Ines. The suddenly student-less music teacher decides to surprise her with a visit after the death of his old dog. It's an awkward move because serious career woman Ines is working on an important project as a corporate strategist in Bucharest. The geographical change doesn't help the two to see eye to eye any better. Practical joker Winfried loves to annoy his daughter with corny pranks. What's worse are his little jabs at her routine lifestyle of long meetings, hotel bars and performance reports.

Father and daughter reach an impasse, and Winfried agrees to return home to Germany. Enter dazzling "Toni Erdmann": Winfried's smooth-talking alter ego. Disguised in a tacky suit, weird wig and even weirder fake teeth, Toni barges into Ines' professional life, claiming to be her CEO's life coach. Wilder and bolder than Winfried, Toni doesn't hold back, and Ines meets the challenge. The harder they push, the closer they become. In all the madness, Ines begins to understand that her eccentric father might deserve some place in her life after all.

The Goethe Kino series is curated by Trisha Gupta. Trisha will introduce the film and lead a conversation after the screening.

© Trisha Gupta Trisha Gupta is an independent writer, journalist, educator and curator based in Delhi. Since 2007, she has written on literary and cultural subjects for a wide range of publications, including being a film columnist and critic for the Mumbai Mirror, the Hindu Business Line, Firstpost and the Sunday Guardian. She studied history at the University of Delhi and anthropology at the University of Cambridge and Columbia University, and has been a Professor of Practice at OP Jindal Global University's journalism school. Her published writing is archived on her blog Chhotahazri.