"Der Flussbaumeister: Wie Tulla den Rhein begradigte" is a pretty long title for this 1.5-hour documentary and I will spare you the English translation because I have a feeling this one here will almost never be shown abroad or probaly only on very few occasions and then you get subtitles or a dub anway. We have also many writers and directors for this one. Bardehle has been a very prolific (maybe the most prolific of them all from Germany) documentary filmmaker over the years. Stiefenhofer has not been equally prolific, but he is also still younger and has been in the industry for over a decade too. And done quite a bit since then. These two are writer and director and have both worked on other films about the river Rhine in the past. Marc Ottiker is the third writer (no director) and while this is not his first documentary effort, he has been more experienced with live action movies, since the early 1990s already in fact. I would guess that his inclusion here for indeed for the sequences in which there was acting. And these sequences are quite frequent. It is a documentary at its core, especially with the narrator, but still therfe are tons of reenactments in here. Still probably not a surprise at all that none of the cast members are known whatsoever. I guess for big names the subject here is just not enough of a big name himself. Although he does carry a certain historic significance. But you ask Germans who Tulla was and from 100 people asked I am sure that 95 will not have any clue. Of course, it also depends if you ask in Cologne or Munich I suppose. Steffen Schroeder plays the title character here and even this actor is one who does not sound familiar to me at all despite being a big German film buff. If I have seen him in anything (and I probably have), then I don't remember him one bit.
Now a bit about the story and contents. This is a film that is really by the books as you can also see in other words from the title of my review. bardehle is a very consistent filmmaker. He never disappoints, but he also never really makes films that will stay on your mind for a long time after watching. But they are educational and the ideas behind them are not bad from any perspective. I think Tulla deserves to be more known for what he came up with. If the outcome matches his mind is still questionable. Narration and reenactments are tolerable, but also could have been much better. Still I guess you take two or three things from this film with you and that is never a bad thing whatsoever. Like I said it turned out exactly the way I thought it would and it also must be said that the subject here, the main character is also not exactly one whose life was so spectacular that they could have turned it into a thrilling watch. Instead, they stayed close to the facts and that is the perfectly right approach. I think it would have been virtually impossible to turn this into a movie that I would rate 4 out of 5, let alone higher. So it's all fine. I mean they even say on two occasions or so that Tulla basically did not even have a personal life. No inclusions of partners and no children either. Tough to construct a captivating character story around a character like that. And clearly they did not go for fiction here and that is definitely the right approach. So, even after some initial hesitation, I give this film a thumbs-up. It's probably a better watch for people living actually close to the Rhine because they should maybe know some of these things, but everybody else can also give it a go. I mean it's still the biggest river by far here in Germany and also has some other superlatives to it if we are looking at its role in Europe, even if it's not the longest. Is it the one with most water inside? I am not sure. Might wanna (re)watch one of Bardehle's other films to find out. I must say I found them slightly superior here and there, even if (or because) they did not focus as much on human characters as this one here. Nonetheless, there are moments and segments from this film here where it also feels like one of Bardehle's other films, especially in the end. There is also a massive part near the end, the last 15 minutes almost, about the now or more recent history and that is because at that point Tulla's story is basically over. The man sure lived for his work and seemed like a serious professional. It's good more people find out about him. Of course, more prominent historical figures than him are included here too like Napoleon and von Humboldt, but they are not in the driver's seat for once. Good thing. Go see this one.
Now a bit about the story and contents. This is a film that is really by the books as you can also see in other words from the title of my review. bardehle is a very consistent filmmaker. He never disappoints, but he also never really makes films that will stay on your mind for a long time after watching. But they are educational and the ideas behind them are not bad from any perspective. I think Tulla deserves to be more known for what he came up with. If the outcome matches his mind is still questionable. Narration and reenactments are tolerable, but also could have been much better. Still I guess you take two or three things from this film with you and that is never a bad thing whatsoever. Like I said it turned out exactly the way I thought it would and it also must be said that the subject here, the main character is also not exactly one whose life was so spectacular that they could have turned it into a thrilling watch. Instead, they stayed close to the facts and that is the perfectly right approach. I think it would have been virtually impossible to turn this into a movie that I would rate 4 out of 5, let alone higher. So it's all fine. I mean they even say on two occasions or so that Tulla basically did not even have a personal life. No inclusions of partners and no children either. Tough to construct a captivating character story around a character like that. And clearly they did not go for fiction here and that is definitely the right approach. So, even after some initial hesitation, I give this film a thumbs-up. It's probably a better watch for people living actually close to the Rhine because they should maybe know some of these things, but everybody else can also give it a go. I mean it's still the biggest river by far here in Germany and also has some other superlatives to it if we are looking at its role in Europe, even if it's not the longest. Is it the one with most water inside? I am not sure. Might wanna (re)watch one of Bardehle's other films to find out. I must say I found them slightly superior here and there, even if (or because) they did not focus as much on human characters as this one here. Nonetheless, there are moments and segments from this film here where it also feels like one of Bardehle's other films, especially in the end. There is also a massive part near the end, the last 15 minutes almost, about the now or more recent history and that is because at that point Tulla's story is basically over. The man sure lived for his work and seemed like a serious professional. It's good more people find out about him. Of course, more prominent historical figures than him are included here too like Napoleon and von Humboldt, but they are not in the driver's seat for once. Good thing. Go see this one.
