User:OberMegaTrans/ss2022/The Sams

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The Sams is a German children's film by Ben Verbong which came out in the year 2001. The screen adaption originated from the first three volumes about the cheeky mythical creature Sams, invented by author Paul Maar, who also wrote the screenplay for the film together with producer Ulrich Limmer. The filming took place in the Bavarian city of Bamberg.
In 2003, a sequel called Sams in Gefahr (literally translated as Sams in danger) was released. Then, in 2012, on March 29, the second sequel followed under the name Sams im Glück (litterally translated as Sams in luck).
In 1977 and 1980, stories of Sams were already filmed with the Augsburger Puppenkiste.

Plot

One Saturday, Mr Taschenbier (literally Pocketbeer) meets the Sams, a strange being that is neither boy nor girl, neither goblin nor animal; the Sams is simply a Sams. For this to happen, certain things had to occur in the right order over the preceding days: On Sunday the sun was shining; on Monday Mr Taschenbier met his only friend, Mr Mon; on Tuesday he was working (in German, the wordplay arises from the similarity between the day of the week, Dienstag, and Dienst, meaning shift or work); Wednesday was the middle of the week (German Mittwoch resembles Mitte, meaning middle); on Thursday there was thunder (Donner in German Donnerstag can be translated as thunder) ; he had the Friday off (German Freitag sounds like Freier Tag, meaning free day as in day off); and on Saturday something happened that changed Mr Taschenbier's whole life.

The Sams (from the German word for Saturday, Samstag) has a number of blue spots around their pig snout. Every time Mr Taschenbier makes a wish it comes true and one wish spot disappears. Despite all the chaos that the Sams brings to Mr. Taschenbier's life, in the end he regards them as a gift. Because of them, Mr Taschenbier improves his self-esteem.

Differences to the book

The movie is mostly based on the first three Sams books, which have been shortened to fit feature film-length.
There are, however, some more differences between the movie and the books.

From the beginning, the Sams remains with Mr. Taschenbier and does not have to leave the next Saturday. They only leave shortly after Martin Taschenbier's birth. In the book "Sams in Gefahr" the Sams also remains longer.
In the movie the wishing machine works as soon as Mr Taschenbier wishes for it. However, it also does not always perfectly fulfil wishes.
Hardly any children are featured in the movie, yet the reasoning behind this choice in unknown (in the bookseries, there are scenes at the school, as well as the scene in which the Sams boasts in front of the other children at the swimming pool, additionally there's the scene at the playground in which the Sams tells the children a made up "murder shark" story).
At first Mr.Taschenbier tries to get rid of the Sams with a trick, by putting it on a tiny plane. This scene, however, does not exist in the book series. In the book, Mr.Taschenbier leaves the Sams behind while the two of them were taking a stroll. Mr.Taschenbier isn't able to get rid of the Sams. Neither in the book, nor in the movie.
In the beginning, Mr. Taschenbier tries to get rid of the Sams by tricking it and putting it into a little airplane. This scene does not exist in the book. In the book however, Mr. Taschenbier tries to leave the Sams behind during a walk. In both cases, the Sams finds its way back to Mr. Taschenbier.
In the movie, Mr. Taschenbier works in an umbrella factory while his job is not mentioned in the book. The idea of the umbrella factory was later added in the following Sams volumes.
Early on in the movie, Mr. Taschenbier secretly falls in love with Mrs. März in an elevator.
This leads to the pool scene, which happens in the third volume of the Sams books, when Mr. Taschenbier has the "Wunschpunkte", the wish spots. In the scene, the Sams still has "Wunschpunkte" left because Mr. Taschenbier needs to be more courageous and impress Mrs. März by high diving.
The restaurant scene, however, takes place while Mr Taschenbier is in possession of the so called "Wunschpunkte", the wish spots. When seeing Mrs März and Mr Oberstein sitting together at a table, the Sams sees an opportunity to humiliate Mr Taschenbier in front of them. This scene as well as the following one were both written for the film. The Sams wishes for the restaurant to play disco music and for Mr Taschenbier to dance to it. The sausage stand scene on the other hand is taken directly from the book. The difference in the film is that the Sams wishes for the burnt sausages with ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard to be served to Mr Oberstein and Mrs März. In the book, the sausages are served to a couple that complained about the Sams and Mr Taschenbier.
The Sams and Mr. Taschenbier get in Mr. Lürchers way only once by crashing Mr. Taschenbier's car into Mr. Lürcher's house. In the book, the Sams and Mr. Taschenbier bother him on two other occasions: Firstly, they wish themselves into Mr. Lürchers attic by mistake. Secondly, Mr. Lürcher is caught by surprise by Mr. Mohn's parrot "Mr. Kules" (a play on words of the German "Herr Kules" and Hercules) in his house and Mr. Taschenbier's closet in his bathtub.
In the movie, the Sams turns themself into Mr. Taschenbier to insult Ms. März's nose. This scene is derived from the fourth volume of the Sams, entitled "A Sams for Martin Taschenbier" ("Ein Sams für Martin Taschenbier" in German), where the Sams turns themself into Martin Taschenbier, the son of Mr. Taschenbier and Ms. März.
While Ms. März saves Mr. Taschenbier's life by kissing him in the movie, in the book the Sams does so by using one of his whish spots.

Reception

Accolades

In 2001, Ben Verbong won the Bavarian Film Award for best directing; Ulrich Noethen received an award for his role as Mr. Taschenbier. In 2002, The Sams was honored with the golden German Film Award. In addition, Eva Mattes received an award for best supporting actress for her role as Ms. Rotkohl.