"Margarete Steiff" is a German television movie from 2005, so this one is almost 15 years old now already and it was made for the holidays that year. The director is Xaver Schwarzenberger, one of the most prolific German(-language) filmmakers ever probably because he has a truly big body of work about which however it must be said that you will not find a great deal of high-quality projects in there. This one here is no exception. But first things first: Like most other German small-screen releases it runs for 90 minutes approximately, a bit shorter without credits. And of course it is set way in the past as the central character is a German stuffed animal toy producer that is still a household name for good quality today with her company. She is palyed by Heike makatsch who was really an A-list actress back then still and for a while actually already, which she probably isn't today anymore also for a while. But it isn't really her fault that this mvoie turned out mostly disappointing I would say. The supporting cast also includes a handful of other known names Like Knaup and von Borsody playing the parents or also Krassnitzer, Heerwagen and Löbau. At least these are the ones I know. The cast is probably still one of the better aspects, but the film feels really weak in terms of the screenplay and you can see that the two who came up with it are not exactly the most experienced script writers, still always a bit disappointing to see more than one people working on a story and actually both being not skilled enough to make note of the weaknesses and blandnesses the other induces. I will not go very much into detail, but honestly the film does feel pretty shallow. First of all apart from the recurring sewing machine, the film does not do half the justice to Steiff's groundbreaking ideas. They also barely touched her success despite being a woman, which, if executed in a skillful manner, could have been a great inclusion. The polio component was okay I would say. makatsch there as slightly on the edge of overacting, but it was still fine. But the worst were probably the dialogues. The film tries so hard to include as many elements from that time in conversations going for a desperate attempt to educate the viewer. One minor example was the Fiaker mention, really minor, there were more big-scale examples too. You will know what I mean when you hear them. I am not talking about the way the characters were speaking language-wise. Now I am not an expert on that, but it did feel appropriate I'd say. As for the story and dramatic moments overall, the film also does feel a bit fake at times how it tries to create tension. This includes mostly the main character's romantic involvement. Another example here: How they think one character left with a lot of money and did not return, but he just missed the train. Now I know there were no mobile phones back then, but still feels a bit too simple to really make an impact. Or also some moments about him being more interested in her sister than her eventually. Same for the conflict with the brother. Profession-wise, I liked the two-time inclusion of how she cannot sign with her right hand and does not want to with her left hand. That was nice, also well-acted. However, the way the company is pretty much broke and then completely out of nowhere a big investor/buyer shows up was typical low-level German television with no realism, but only intention to create a super happy ending after everything seems lost. Shame they took that path. The situation with the employees who say they stand strong with her, even if she can't pay them anymore, felt a bit forced and cringeworthy too. I mean you can do stuff like that, but you have to work your way to these scenes and moments to get away with them and there was not really any, or at least not any convincing, elaboration on the relationship between her and her workers before that. Especially if that is really completely fictitious. All in all, taking all this into account, this is a movie that takes itself far more seriously than it should or has any right to. Music, sets and costumes are fine I give them that, but they cannot make up for flaws in key departments. I give it a thumbs-down. It is too shallow as a whole despite trying so desperately to be the exact opposite. Watch something else instead.
Review of Margarete Steiff
