IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER? (1984)

Straight-forward, no-frills documentary about people (of all ages) enjoying various polka festivals in the US in the early 1980’s. And…that’s about it. Lots of enjoyable shots of people dancing and a few random quick interviews with polka fans talking about different polka-related subjects. My favorite being the high schooler talking about how she fantasizes about walking into her high school with a giant boombox blaring polka. Goddamn, how awesome would that be? How is it that an imaginative filmmaker hasn’t turned that idea into a scene in a movie or an entire movie itself? And, if they have…I need to see it!

Anyway, at only 51 minutes, IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER? goes by quickly enough, but honestly it feels more like a well-made home movie than an actual hard-hitting investigative documentary. Nothing wrong with that though, that was probably the intent of the filmmakers. To simply capture the events as they happen naturally.

No smart phones or tablets, lots of happy people dancing their brains out and sweating all over the joint, a polka pool party, a polka awards banquet, awesome vintage fashions and hairstyles, early 1980’s human bodies, a male wearing female clothing without some brainwashed toughie on social media having a complete mental breakdown about it, great camerawork, people of the same sex happily dancing together and nobody giving a fuck, lots of catchy polka jams that I actually found myself tapping my handsome toes to.

Even if you’re not into polka, IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER? is still an interesting little film that left me wanting more.