- Engelke and Pastewka play a (prevented) lovers
Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka have been friends for decades and have collaborated many times: in legendary "Wochenshow" sketches, as the eccentric folk music duo Wolfgang and Anneliese, or in the format "LOL: Last One Laughing". However, they had never done a joint series - until now.
This Thursday (August 15), "Perfectly Missed" will premiere on the streaming platform Prime. In it, the good friends Engelke and Pastewka play a couple - or rather, a couple that never quite gets together.
Their characters, Maria, a bookseller, and Ralf, the owner of a sports shop, live in the same small town (the cinematically under-explored Marburg) and even have mutual acquaintances, but they never seem to meet. Yet, it's clear in every scene that they would be perfect for each other.
The eight-episode comedy series explores "rules and coincidences, revenge and forgiveness, friendships and outbursts of anger, parking violations and cat litter, and: the eternal longing for a happy ending," the production company btf (bildundtonfabrik) announced. Alongside Engelke and Pastewka, the series features Fritzi Haberlandt, Edin Hasanovic, Peter Jordan, Michael Wittenborn, Serkan Kaya, Caro Scrimali, and Melodie Simina.
"My working title was, and this sounds terrible, 'Misunderstanding Comedy'. But ultimately, it's accurate: it's about missed moments, how Maria and Ralf don't know each other, but have mutual friends, relatives, and acquaintances," Pastewka said in an interview with the German Press Agency at the Filmfest Munich, where he presented the series alongside Engelke and the team. "It was always important to me that the two worlds are separate, but that there are always connections."
Entertaining and touching in parts
The idea for the series emerged during the first lockdown in the corona period, Engelke said after the premiere. "We sat together in this miserable time" and thought about shared plans. It could have been a different project, she said; a book, for example. But it became a series - one that is very entertaining and touching in parts.
It reminds one a little - especially in the design of the main character of the newly divorced Ralf - of the series success "Pastewka". And this is then perfectly complemented by Engelke's Maria, who is desperate for love and stuck in an affair with her ex - the man who left her for her once-best friend and is now going to marry her.
A series about aging - or simply a good story
"It served the comedy to tell that Maria and Ralf are people who have a lot behind them. Ralf has a family, Maria has been a bookseller for a long time. Ralf gets divorced, Maria's arch-nemesis Johanna stole her book idea. Both figures suddenly find themselves between a rock and a hard place and have to reinvent themselves," Pastewka said.
"And it's funny because they're at that age and seem to rely on experiences they might have had 30 years ago. And now they believe they can copy what was then, but of course, it doesn't work out that way," the actor continued. "But the age itself wasn't the main theme, Engelke emphasized: "We just wanted to tell this story. Maybe ten years ago, 20 years ago, we could have also thought about this. We find the idea of missing out great. We find the philosophical subtext great, to say: Who talks about missed chances? When is a chance missed? Are there coincidences? Is there fate? Is there predestination? We found that much more interesting."
In the comedy series "Perfectly Missed," Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka, both known for their work in Germany, portray characters who live in the same small town, Marburg. Despite having mutual acquaintances, their characters never seem to meet, displaying a potential connection to Germany.
Throughout the series, Engelke and Pastewka's characters, Maria and Ralf, are shown navigating their lives in this under-explored town, highlighting the rich landscape and culture of Germany.
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