Rock ‘n’ Roll Ringo

One glass too many, one moment of inattention—and Ringo Fleisch (Martin Rohde) is fired from his job. The 33-year-old scaffolder from Herne signs on as a temporary worker at the Cranger Kirmes funfair and immerses himself in the colorful, hectic world of traveling carnivals, where showman Fränkie and his wife (Margarethe Tiesel) discover him as a “prizefighter.” Under the fighting name “Rock'n'Roll Ringo” the strong young man becomes the boxing stable's attraction. He not only encounters quirky characters such as the wooden mime Hainz (Peter Trabner) and the charming bumper car Jenny—the risky dream of quick money also beckons. After all, Ringo wants to take his deaf daughter on a cruise to the North Sea... Following “Heiko's World,” director and screenwriter Dominik Galizia paints an ambivalent portrait of a modern proletariat caught between commerce, entertainment, and the search for family closeness. Martin Rohde is convincing in the title role as a gentle giant torn between longing and self-destruction, while the film itself unfolds its narrative power in a balanced mix of action and drama, flickering loud images and quiet scenes. “A mixture of classic antihero story and loving milieu study that focuses on a subculture largely unknown to many, the fairground life: creatively realized, brilliantly acted, and surprisingly emotional, ‘Rock'n'Roll Ringo’ is a very unusual example of what young German cinema can look like.” (Christian Klosz, on: spielfilm.de)