Ich war noch niemals in New York (German for "I've never been to New York") is a movie based off the eponymous jukebox musical showcasing the music of Udo Jürgens'. The musical premiered in Hamburg, Germany in 2007. From there, productions have mainly been staged through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but there was also one in Japan. There doesn't appear to be an English translation, but that could be due to Jürgens not being as well-known in English-speaking countries. The German-speaking movie came out in 2019. I was not familiar with Jürgens or the musical before seeing the film, so my review won't have any prior notions or influences from those sources.
Ich war noch niemals in New York is the story of TV presenter Lisa Wartberg struggling to keep her show on the air. Her mother Marie has a fall and ends up in the hospital. When she comes to, she has lost all her memories -- except she knows she has never been to New York. After escaping the hospital, she stows away on a New York-bound ocean liner, with Lisa following her trail. Magic, hijinks, and dance numbers ensue on a cruise to remember!
The movie is a nonsensical, ridiculous, feel-good, fluff movie musical. It embraces many of the tropes of golden-age musicals, but with modern storylines. It's played over-the-top, but sometimes that's exactly what you need.
Even though it is a jukebox movie musical, the songs appear to fit well with the plot. They took a Mamma Mia approach to this story's creation.
Everyone in the cast just exudes enjoyment and fun. It's clear everyone loved filming this. Katharina Thalbach in particular (who played Marie) looks like she is having the time of her life.
I really liked how, along with the main middle-aged main characters, there were also gay and older-age relationships represented. It's great to see more different couple groups represented. That said, the main cast is all white. Some extras are Black, but otherwise not much racial diversity present.
The time period seems vaguely 60's/modern-day. We have period costumes and ship décor, but also modern-day cell phones, laptops, and mentions of Brad Pitt. It's in its own universe, and you know what? I'm okay with that. I want to live there. Every color has high saturation to makes everything pop. It's so pretty.
There gets to a point towards the end where I felt there hadn't been a dance number in a while. There had been songs, but they were emotional ballads, not with a lot of characters. I needed a little pick-me-up somewhere during that stretch. Of course, the finale features a dance number, so it still ended on a good note.
So, let's now stow away and take a look at this ship.
The SS United States plays the role of the Maximiliane, the ship our characters cruise on to New York, and the setting for a majority of the film. The ship shows up here via CGI. Unlike her last few movie appearances, she is fully restored in appearance to her cruising days. There are some gorgeous, gorgeous establishing shots of the ship sailing the ocean. It brought so much happiness to my heart. A good sample of them are featured in the trailer:
The film built a couple practical sets, including a dining room with stage and dance floor, cabins, the crew communal barracks/mess hall, hallways, and an outdoor pool. Much of the set features wooden décor and fixtures, but this film ship doesn't appear to be designed by William Francis Gibbs, so that's okay.
I initially assumed choosing the SS United States' exterior was a post-production choice. However, there is a ship map in a hallway that clearly shows the SS United States profile.
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| Still from Ich war noch niemals in New York (2019) Ship map on right, outlined in orange. |
The outdoor pool is placed on the ship's forecastle. It gives the forward superstructure a cluttered look. It's also weird because the pool has its own lifeboats that are hanging a deck below the rest of the ship's lifeboats, so they're not in line. The pool would have made more sense if it had been midship or aft, but I'm not sure it would have been shown on film as often if it hadn't been placed on the forecastle.
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| Still from Ich war noch niemals in New York (2019) The Maximiliane / SS United States with updated forecastle (Note the 3 gangways at the terminal (right) sticking out without any support!) |
A change they made to the superstructure to accommodate the pool set was add an extra deck between the Sports Deck and the Navigation Bridge, so that the bridge could still be visible. You can really tell this when you look at the bridge wings' supports, they are longer than they are in real life.
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| Still from Ich war noch niemals in New York (2019) Orange arrow pointing to bridge wing and its support |
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| An orange arrow pointing to a bridge wing and its support on the actual SS United States |
When we reach New York, there's an establishing shot where the ship is docked at Pier 88, New York's current cruise terminal. Then, when two characters Otto and Costa are leaving the ship, the building says the ship is at Pier 57.
Like the movie itself, it makes better sense if you don't think too much about the details. I'm just happy it's here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Movie: A fun, relaxing break from the crazy world we live in. 3.5/4
SS United States: We are on the ship so much! But it's not the real ship... 2.9/4
The Movie: A fun, relaxing break from the crazy world we live in. 3.5/4
SS United States: We are on the ship so much! But it's not the real ship... 2.9/4
Sources:
This series is to bring awareness to the SS United States, a historic American ocean liner. She is currently berthed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awaiting restoration. Learn more on her story at ssusc.org.
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