Düsseldorf in the Movies

For no particular reason, my home town of Düsseldorf appears to be a favorite among film producers in Hollywood. Maybe I only notice this because I live in Düsseldorf, but somehow I get the feeling that whenever a German town is mentioned in a Hollywood movie, it’s Düsseldorf. Naturally I always have to laugh when this is the case, sometimes more, sometimes less – depending on the degree and accuracy of what is mentioned.

Düsseldorf is mentioned only once in Quentin Tarantino’s film Django Unchained (2012) – one of the main characters, Dr. King Schulz, is a former dentist and “big-money buyer” from Düsseldorf. This is actually somewhat accurate (these days), because present-day Düsseldorf has a reputation as being one of the most expensive cities in Germany. There are lots of businesses here, and also lots of very rich people. Though this mention of Düsseldorf definitely made me laugh, there are also two things that are a bit odd in this context: First, “King” is a very strange first name for a German. I have never heard it and I assume it’s probably an English nickname for some unpronounceable (for an English person) German name, like for example “Günther”. Second, the character is generally referred to as a German. However, during the time the film is set, Germany didn’t exist as such – Düsseldorf would have been part of Prussia.

Another casual mention of Düsseldorf can be heard in Mel Brooks’ fantastic musical The Producers (2005). Sadly, the film version doesn’t do the brilliant stage version justice at all. But the main sing/dance scene is always amazing to watch, also thanks to a gloriously blond John Barrowman in the lead. During the song, a minor character makes use of this lovely rhyme: “I was born in Düsseldorf and that is why they call me Rolf!”. So in this case, Düsseldorf was probably only chosen due to its rhyming qualities with some German male names. The same applies to the Rhineland, the area surrounding Düsseldorf. It is mentioned in the main song with “Rhineland’s a fine land once more!”. I laughed a lot! Watch the video on YouTube!

The third notable mention of Düsseldorf I encountered in the film Walk the Line (2005): “I saw this church in Düsseldorf made of limestone. Big as a train station. We can get married there and go to Venice”. I don’t really know what church they’re talking about here, because none of our churches are as big as our train stations. I can’t think of any seriously big limestone churches in Düsseldorf. Perhaps they are confusing us with Cologne and its dome? That would be unfortunate, but oh well, we got the mention, not the Colonians.

Düsseldorf is not exclusive to movies – also the long-running TV show The Simpsons features a character from Düsseldorf, an exchange student. He goes by the name of Üter Zörker, which is a seriously disturbing name, and definitely not a German one. I have never heard a name like this in Germany – to me, it looks more like a Turkish name. Oh well. Üter Zörker is generally characterized as a gluttonous chocolate-eating machine who usually wears Bavarian style Lederhosen. This is another factual error, as Düsseldorf is definitely not in nor anyhere near Bavaria. Düsseldorf is in the Rhineland, officially North-Rhine Westphalia, and people here are more renowned for their silly carnival customes than for Lederhosen. The Simpsons get Düsseldorf as wrong as it gets – or do they? The character of Üter Zörker is actually based on a character from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Which brings me to the next point…

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) exceeds even Üter in the Düsseldorf-related ridiculousness. As far as I remember, the name of the city is not actually mentioned, but it is displayed on screen. Or rather, a rural Black Forest Village is displayed on screen, captioned with “Düsseldorf, Germany”. OMG LOL! Düsseldorf looks absolutely nothing like a black forest village! We don’t even have mountains here, let alone timbered houses! This screencap just fuels all the clichées Hollywood has on Germany. Shame on you Tim Burton! Having said that, I laughed a lot and I didn’t take it seriously.

In short, though Düsseldorf is Hollywood’s favorite city, they sure have a distorted image of it. I for one would enjoy it if a Hollywood movie would get Düsseldorf right if they want to actually show it (instead of just mentioning it). That would be even more fun!

To get over all these shocking revelations (I bet! ;), here’s a picture of the actual Düsseldorf (apparently I’m also in it) from when I was playing around with long exposures. I just realized that I should probably go on more photoshoots in Düsseldorf.

[Added August 10, 2013] During my rewatch of X-Men: First Class yesterday, another forgotten mention of Düsseldorf resurfaced. This film mentions Düsseldorf as the hometown of none other than Magneto, who says “My parents were from Düsseldorf” during the dialogue with the German tailor and pig farmer who are living in Argentina. The tailor also brags “My father made the finest suits in Düsseldorf” which is what diverted the conversation to Magneto’s ancestry in the first place. How lovely to know that Düsseldorf is home to mutants.

[Added January 8, 2015] Growing up, I used to watch the classic show Hogan’s Heroes. Recently, I have begun to occasionally watch an episode, and one of the first things I noticed was another mention of Düsseldorf in the episode 1.03 “Kommandant of the Year”. In this episode, Col. Klink is awarded a fake honor, which is used by Col. Hogan to divert Klink’s attention and simultaneously get rid of a dangerous weapon. During his acceptance speech, Klink tells the story of a boy (presumably himself) “who lived in his hometown of Düsseldorf”. It appears this is one of the earliest mentions of Düsseldorf in the movies, or perhaps even the one that sparked it all?! Who knows… I’ll keep looking for Düsseldorf in the movies.