A professor racially insults a freshman with Arab roots. It is not the first incident. To save himself, he has to prepare the woman for a debate competition.
It’s a popular film theme: two people deeply dislike each other, but have to cooperate due to external pressures and get to know surprising sides of each other. That’s also what Sönke Wortmann’s comedy “Contra” is about, which brings a serious topic to life in an entertaining yet profound way. The 2021 box office hit will be shown on Monday at 8:15 p.m. on Das Erste.
In it, a cynical rhetoric professor makes racist remarks at the student Naima during a lecture and makes fun of her. In order to win the favor of the disciplinary committee, he is supposed to prepare her for a national debating competition. A difficult undertaking, because both of them are very reluctant to work together.
Following the example of France
The basis is the French film “The Brilliant Mademoiselle Neila”, which was released in cinemas in 2018. Daniel Auteuil played the eloquent professor who bullies the student Neila because of her Algerian roots. An older, bitter white man and a young woman with a migrant background from the notorious suburb – for Constantin Film Production, this was an exciting constellation that they wanted to transfer to German conditions.
Instead of Paris, “Contra” is set in Frankfurt am Main. Christoph Maria Herbst (“The First Name”) plays the rhetoric professor Richard Pohl. Nilam Farooq, known from films such as “Du Sie Er & Wir” and as a long-time TV detective in the ZDF crime series “SOKO Leipzig”, was chosen for the role of the student.
For Naima, studying law is a dream come true. She wants to become a lawyer and hopes that this will enable her mother and brothers to have a better life. Finally arrive in Germany and not just be granted the right to stay! And then this: “In my culture, punctuality still means something,” Professor Pohl says to Naima when she arrives a few minutes late for the lecture. Naima’s fellow students film Pohl’s embarrassing appearance, which soon causes a stir and horror on social media.
Reluctantly friends
After this painful experience, Naima no longer wants to have anything to do with the professor. But then she sees the opportunity that participation in the debate competition offers her, especially since she is very talented at rhetoric. Pohl also has no desire to train the student at first, but sees no other way to avoid his impending suspension. Both reluctantly agree to the training together and learn surprising sides of each other. Everything goes well until Naima finds out the real motives behind the professor’s willingness to help: not conviction and remorse, but self-interest.
“Contra” cannot avoid some clichés. But wordplay and sensitivity for subtle nuances make the comedy worth watching. The film shows in an entertaining way that it is not just the big things that express racism and discrimination. There are many small incidents, thoughtless remarks, looks, behaviors that exclude and hurt people. No “You can still say that” or “I didn’t mean it like that!” – here the film takes a clear position and makes it clear that every person has a dignity that no one should violate, not even in jest.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
