Schultze Gets the Blues

Anyone who enjoys cinematic fare that's off the beaten path will happily follow a zydeco-loving salt miner on a rejuvenating musical odyssey from Germany to Louisiana. Film festival award-winner Horst Krause stars as the taciturn, barrel-shaped Schultze, who is settling uneasily into retirement. He spends his drabby days in his small town polishing his garden gnomes, drinking with friends, visiting his mother in a nursing home, and playing traditional polkas on his accordion. At the 30-minute mark, Schultze, and the film, come to life when he hears zydeco on the radio and becomes enthralled in the music and the culture, going so far as to introduce his friends to such delicacies as jambalaya. . He performs zydeco at a music festival, scandalizing some of the locals. But his music club selects him to represent them in Texas at a sister city celebration, and Schultze's life takes unexpected detours. Fans of Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismaki may find director Michael Schorr a kindred minimalist spirit with his long takes and deadpan sensibility. But Schultze Gets the Blues dances to its own quirky rhythms. While Schultze's journey comes to a downbeat conclusion, the film manages to end on a lovely grace note. --Donald Liebenson