Turan

Tales of the South Seas (1998)

This was not like the book!

"Tales of the South Seas" was based on the book "A Son of the Sun" by Jack London. Sadly, it just used the character of David Grief and the one-time ally, Mauriri. The rest was fan fiction.

The best parts of the book were not even mentioned, like - collecting debts the rude way - difficult manners of man-eaters on the Solomon Islands - buying found gold coins from savages for a few pennies - getting sieged by pirates and sieging them back - a crook being spanked with "a particularly dead pig" - survival of a typhoon ... and, and, and...

Perhaps you like the series better if you have not read the book.

Räuber Kneißl (2008)

Good movie, but the local colour was not genuine!

I watched the movie with my girl friend, who lives at Dachau and comes from a small village near Kneißl's birthplace. We had watched more of Rosenmüller's movies, and more likely than not we recognized some places in her neighbourhood.

But not this time. In the end we found out that the larger part of the movie had been filmed in the Czech republic. (Rosenmüller needed an old farm that was in a bad shape!) So it was a good movie with some fake local colour, but the actors were genuine Bavarians with a genuine dialect!

Kneißl himself certainly was no Bavarian version of Robin Hood, but a petty criminal who was framed by a local policeman when he was released after his first prison sentence. But even then he was guilty of murder or at least manslaughter, not to mention his robberies.

Und Jimmy ging zum Regenbogen (2008)

The book was better, and so was the movie of 1971!

This was not the book I read back in the seventies, and the first movie of 1971 was much better.

I do not mind that the TV play was set in Berlin, 1996 and not in Vienna, 1969. The idea of moving the play closer to nowadays was all right.

Valerie Steinfeld had only one appearance, when she poisoned old Senor Aranda. She was described as quite a character, so why was her part reduced so much? Where was the paternity trial that Valerie Steinfeld attempted during the Third Reich? It was a main issue in the book. Where was the bashful, so-called father of Heinz Steinfeld? Carlo Rola omitted important parts of the original plot, the most interesting characters and concentrated on the love-that-can't-be-story between Manuel Aranda and Irene.

I was not the only one who wept when Manuel Aranda was shot in the first movie, so perhaps the TV play had a better ending.

Sorry, it might be a good movie, but only if you did not read the book or watch the first movie. Alain Noury was a much better Manuel Aranda than Heino Ferch.

Der Scheck heiligt die Mittel (1974)

The check justifies the means - for some time

This is the story of the American writers Clifford Irving and Richard Suskind who wrote a completely faked autobiography of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. They were very sure that nobody would believe the book to be a fake, not even their publisher. After all, who cares about the denials of an invisible person who might be somewhat insane? The two authors did a thorough research job about the life of Howard Hughes and successfully spun a legend why Hughes wanted to have an "authorized autobiography" after all and how the interviews had taken place in conspiracy style. They tricked their publisher into an advance of several 100,000 $, to be paid both to the authors and to Howard Hughes. The advance was paid by check. The check for Hughes was deposited into a Swiss bank account run by Irving's wife under the fake name of Helga Renate (=H.R.) Hughes.

The publisher tried to verify the manuscript with a specimen of Hughes' handwriting and still believed the authors when Hughes had everything denied. In the end the Swiss authorities found out about the fake bank account and the two authors eventually went to jail.

The authors had to tax the advance fee and ran into a huge debt when they additionally had to return the advance to the publisher. Richard Suskind played himself in the TV play, probably because he needed every additional cent after his prison sentence. So it became a documentary with a particularly good source and the best available adviser.

Some ten years later a similar thing happened in Germany with the faked "Hitler diaries".

Donna Leon: Vendetta (2000)

Not too Italian, but I liked the series

The "Commissario Brunetti" books have never been translated into Italian at the request of Ms. Leon, so it also seems reasonable that she did not want any Italian actors in the movies.

The actors try hard to play their Italian parts, but they remain German or Austrian. There is enough local colour of Venice to make up for it. And never mind the missing Italian actors: the "Donna Leon" movies are nicely made and guarantee ninety minutes of suspense and good entertainment.

We'll never find out the difference between a German and a truly Italian version.

Der Staudamm (1968)

Today it would have become a docu soap

"Der Staudamm" was a mini-series about the genuine and invented adventures that take place at the construction site of a dam in Austria. They are told from the viewpoint of the chief engineer (Horst Niendorf) and his personal assistant (Wolfgang Condrus).

Some stories might have been true, others were well-invented, e.g.

• Several immigrant workers from Italy have a personal feud, Mafia-style. All Italian workers consider their behavior as normal, the others as outrageous.

• Two workers make a bet: sit down on a box of explosives, with the fuse lit. The one who runs away first is a coward and has lost (but what about the other one?!). The assistant finds a way to find out the more courageous without endangering the other one (and without telling his boss, who would readily have sacked him).

Lina Braake (1975)

Who is the real criminal?

Lina Braake, an 81-year-old lady, has to leave her flat when the flat is inherited by a bank. She has to go to a home for old people. There she meets a former business man, an old fox who officially has been declared incapacitated. Nevertheless, he is involved into several financial transactions, some of them not exactly legal, because he cannot be indicted. He teaches Mrs Braake several tricks of the trade, and develops a scheme to frame the bank who has driven her out of her flat.

The Italian hairdresser of Mrs Braake also plays an important part, because he wants to go back to Italy, but cannot afford to buy a house there.

The solution is easy, illegal and good for all participants except the bank. Lina Braake knows exactly about section 20 of the German Code of Penal Law, because she was a keen student of the old business man.

"Lina Braake" is a good movie, therefore rarely transmitted on TV, and probably only in Germany. I had a good laugh and still wonder if a real bank would fall for the trick.

Liebe Zartbitter (2003)

A nice bedtime story, but not much more

Lena, a young lady from Munich, Bavaria, begins to manage the run-down bakery of her aunt in Berlin. She only has one employee, Donald. He persuades her to specialize on holiday cakes - with some success. Now Laurens enters the scene. He and his fiancée want to buy the bakery to convert it to a fast-food-style café. Lena does not want to sell out - especially after she has an affair with Laurens and discovers that he is engaged - and financially dependent on his future father-in law. After getting turned down Laurens behaves like a stalker, because he desperately wants Lena, her bakery or preferably both. His fiancée soon throws him out. The only reasonable person is Donald, because he is openly gay and the only person who can watch the affair between Lena and Laurens from a neutral point of view and his advice are not influenced by jealousy.

The end somehow does not fit into the rest of the film - but it still remains a nice bedtime story.

Watchers with a good memory might recognize some ideas from "Das Brot des Bäckers" or "Beim nächsten Mann wird alles anders."

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Never ever claim that Greeks and Turks are very different!

I am half-Turkish myself and had a good laugh when I saw that some Turkish traits and traditions also exist in Greece. Just a few examples:

• Greeks/Turks are something better than the rest of the world

• Dad is always right, but Mom knows how to persuade him (and he won't even notice that he has been persuaded)

• Don't let your daughter date an outsider, especially if he is an infidel.

• If she does, find her a Greek/Turkish husband, and never mind her protests

• An average family clan has some 100 members

• A not so big fat wedding may well take place with 200 guests.

Lehmanns Erzählungen (1975)

A very German experience from 1945 to 1948

This is the story of the former Wehrmacht soldier Lehmann, who makes a big career on the Black Market of Hamburg after the end of World War II. It all starts nearly by coincidence with the sale of a few dozen stolen silver spoons.

Later, he is involved in about any illegal business like producing moonshine "schnapps", slaughtering hogs in a bathtub, trading stolen goods with the British Army and the like. He even keeps his business running when he is jailed and cannot bribe himself free.

The whole thing ends all of a sudden on June 21, 1948. On this day the Deutsche Mark is introduced. The old Reichsmark becomes worthless, and Lehmann's experience and connections are no longer needed, because the black market ceases to exist.

The author admits that he was involved in black-market business himself and his character Lehmann might be somewhat autobiographic.

Der Briefbomber (2000)

Facts and fiction, well mixed

In the 90s, Austria was rocked by a four-year long series of letter bombs. Several intellectuals, left-leaning persons or prominent immigrants received letter bombs, some were killed or maimed, among them the former mayor of Vienna. Apparently the sender was a neo-nazi.

The story is told from the view-point of a police psychologist, who tries to track the letter bomber by getting a psychological profile of him. Actually, the letter bomber was not caught because of the profiler's work, but the profiler had delivered a surprisingly good description.

The movie is made a bit in "Columbo" style: the criminal is known from the beginning, and the watcher sees the noose tighten slowly. On the other hand there is more than a detective story behind it. There is an invisible criminal, who will strike again and again, and the big issue is "how can we figure out what he will do next, and how can we outsmart him?"

Some details in the movie are fictitious, but any Austrian should remember the letter bomber Franz Fuchs and how he was caught.

Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein (1977)

Sorry, the book was much better.

"Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein" was filmed twice, and both versions had no chance to match the book by Johannes Mario Simmel.

Although several Simmel books were successfully filmed in the 70's, the makers were out of luck this time. For some reasons, many of the characters are only a cartoon of themselves. The impudent methods of the main character, Thomas Lieven were funny and thrilling, but Simmel's favourite issues, like the relativity of good and bad, were lost somehow. Moreover, some sequels had to be stretched to fit the time window.

The TV series of 1980 contains only half the book. The sequel never was filmed. Perhaps the producers and actors were not too happy with the result of their work?

Das Traumschiff: Tahiti (1999)

I wonder if the story is according to German Criminal Procedure...

One of the better sequels of "Das Traumschiff".

Samoa, December 31, 1999. One of the ship's passengers is wanted by the police for fraud, and another one is a police inspector trying to find and arrest him. Only trouble: the crime will be beyond the statute of limitations unless the criminal is arrested before January 1, 2000, local time.

At midnight, the criminal opens a bottle of champagne with his girl friend. But he has missed one little thing: there is a way to arrest the criminal even several hours later. (Hint: anybody who has crossed the Pacific in West-East direction should be able to figure out how.)

Adventures of the Seaspray (1966)

TV series with a story behind the story

On the "Seaspray" there was a black boatswain with an Afro haircut, who wore a Fijian Sulu skirt.

Actually, this boatswain (Leoni Lesinawi) was the owner of the "Seaspray", who leased it to the filming company and got the supporting part.

When the filming was over, the "Seaspray" belonged to him and no longer to the bank. He then established a travel agency called "Seaspray Cruises" in Nadi (Fiji Islands). The "Seaspray" still makes day cruises for tourists.

At least the "Seaspray" did so in 1986 when I visited Fiji, but the owner did not take part in the cruise.

Josef Filser (1991)

In Bavarian politics, nothing has changed since 1899

Munich, 1899. Josef Filser, a "normal" farmer from a village in Upper Bavaria, is persuaded by his local priest to run for the Bavarian State Parliament - and gets elected. He experiences politics and the State capital Munich as a sort of a jungle where one has to find his way. His personal trouble: he does not understand anything about politics and lacks any unnecessary education.

The mini-series is based on a book by Ludwig Thoma, "Jozef Filsers Briefwexel", where the story is told in letters and, mhm, political declarations. Both are terribly misspelled and hardly legible even for Germans unless they speak Bavarian dialect. For those who do, it is great fun, even today.

In the hundred years since the publishing of the book, hardly anything has changed: Bavaria still has an arch-conservative and very Catholic Government. Only the King has gone.

Bangkok Hilton (1989)

The ultimate horror of every backpacker tourist

It must be the ultimate horror for any backpacker / long distance traveller: you get jailed in a foreign country whose language you do not speak and where you can expect "a fair trial plus a fine hanging", even as an innocent party.

The plot may be somewhat too well constructed. Normally, parents and friends would protest against the arrest of an innocent tourist, especially if the tourist never never had anything to do with drugs.

You bet I look particularly well after my luggage in such countries!

Meanwhile a similar case has taken place in Indonesia: the Australian tourist Schapelle Corby was sentenced to 20 years in jail for drug possession. The scenario was very similar: the defendant insists the drugs were planted, the case is not too solid, but enough for a conviction.

Das Brot des Bäckers (1976)

A Must for anybody who prefers good bread to cheap bread

The movie describes the troubles in a small bakery in Bavaria that gets in trouble when a neighboring supermarket tries to force the bakery out of the market. The bakery bakes good bread without any chemistry. The customers see it somewhat differently: the breakfast rolls are much cheaper in the supermarket, so why buy them in the bakery?

The whole story is told from the viewpoint of a new apprentice. What can an apprentice do in this situation? What can he do to get a foothold in the trade?

Several actors like Günter Lamprecht or Bernd Tauber later played important parts in "Das Boot".

The movie was filmed in a bakery at Hersbruck. Meanwhile the bakery has been closed, with no successor in sight.

Das Buschgespenst (1986)

A 100-year old detective story by Karl May, filmed in East Germany

The story is about a smuggling gang in the German Ore mountains, set around 1880. It is an adventure movie with a social (or socialist?) touch, because it was filmed in the German Democratic Republic in 1986. When you look twice the big surprise comes: the author is Karl May, the inventor of Winnetou, Old Shatterhand, Kara ben Nemsi and many more.

Have a look when it appears on TV the next time, whenever this will be.

Grüß Gott, ich komm von drüben (1978)

A conceivable, but impossible East-West story

By a quirk of fate, a little shoe factory in West Germany is inherited by East Germany. The East German authorities bring in a new management from East Berlin, and they try to run the company the Socialist way. It has several consequences: the managers and their families are exposed to the "free West" lifestyle, a Greek worker turns out to be a Communist as well, and the sales go down. On the other hand, even Moscow-style Communists like the new management can be relatively decent people...

The story is 100% fiction, but as a "what if" story it has been well invented and is worth watching even now. Some of the actors, like Hans-Christian Blech, actually have fled from East Germany and knew exactly what characters they were playing.

Letzter Wille (2000)

This could happen in any family if an unmarried aunt dies!

An unmarried aunt dies and leaves several contradictory wills. All relatives believe they ought to inherit everything. So they do the best for their purse and the worst for the other relatives. The end is very surprising and funny.

The TV play is made up as a comedy, but everybody who has been in such a situation will recognize himself and his/her late relative!

Capricorn One (1977)

And what about the missions to the Moon?

This movie provokes the thought, "what if the Apollo missions to the Moon were faked as well?". This might be one reason why the main part was played by a British actor.

So perhaps some followers of the "moon hoax" theories were inspired by "Capricorn One".

Die Delegation (1970)

Anyone seen a UFO?

A German TV journalist is sent to a UFO congress and meets several crackpots plus a Canadian lady who suspects she has had an encounter with alien astronauts. He begins to research into her story, with amazing results.

The UFO congress actually took place in Mainz, Germany. The rest is so well-invented that the TV station got several letters like "this is the story of the century, why don't you do anything?!"

Einmal im Leben - Geschichte eines Eigenheims (1972)

Once in a lifetime a decent man should build a house...

... and a family with a mean landlord decides to build a house of their own. They do not know that this will be the adventure of their life, and have no idea about the experiences they are going to have until they can move into their new home.

The mini-series is extremely realistic. (I know what I am talking about, because my parents built a house some years before the movie, and made a similar experience!)

Tatort: Tod im All (1997)

A science fiction author murdered by aliens - impossible!

Ludwigshafen, 1997: a not-so-good science fiction writer disappears. His wife claims he was in contact with aliens. Kommissarin Odenthal believes in a very normal murder case, although she gets several anonymous tip-offs in all-too strange telephone calls. The end is very surprising and enough for a good laugh.

P.S. The disappeared writer is played by Dietmar Schönherr. In 1965 Schönherr played the main part in the German science fiction serial "Raumpatrouille".

Tatort: Stuttgarter Blüten (1973)

A particularly funny sequel of the "Tatort" series, and one of the best!

This is the story of a man who paints (!) faked bank notes with little errors, e.g: "HUNDERT FALSCHE MARK" (100 faked marks) instead of "HUNDERT DEUTSCHE MARK" or "DEUTSCHE BUNDESBAHN" (German Federal Railroad) instead of "Deutsche Bundesbank".

Eventually the police gets an important tip-off with such a bank note, solves a murder case and catches a gang of real counterfeiters.

The man who painted faked bank notes really existed and was known as "Blüten-Rembrandt" (Rembrandt the Forger). The rest of the story is well-invented.