Horst in Translation ([email protected])
When Germans hear the name "Adlon", they immediately know what this thing is about. It is a hotel that is still extremely famous and popular today here in Berlin and still among the elite of hotels world-wide as they are chosen by independent bodies. "Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga" is a mini-series from 2013, so still fairly recent and it is a television production that will have its 5th anniversary two years from now. It consists of three episodes of over 90 minutes each, so quite a challenge if you decide to watch it in one sitting. You will be rewarded with many famous German actors at least who may help you sit through this one without getting bored. But they can't do it on their own either. Apart from that, I believe that the cast list here includes many names that may be well-known, but I also think that this is not because of them having great range or talent or so, but having good recognition value and being fairly charismatic, two important factors that can be enough for long careers, like in Heino Ferch's case for example. I want to say though that the likes of Thieme and Klaußner (and maybe others in here) are very talented actors who just may not have been given the right material here to shine.The man who made this is Uli Edel, somebody with a very strange career. While he worked on films that received Oscar-nominations, he also has quite some stinkers in his body of work. Yet, thanks to the positive, he is one of the German filmmakers who also made it to Hollywood and recently worked on some productions that received a lot of (awards) attention in the United States. His work about the Adlon history and clan rarely impressed me though. this may have partially to do with the acting, but in general I felt that the script was not a success and not good enough for almost 5 hours. I am not sure if I would blame Edel here for uninspired writing or the Adlon clan for just not being interesting enough.. In any case, maybe Edel is also to blame because he made this mini-series at all. I thought all three parts were fairly bland and forgettable and there is little in here beyond the sets and costumes that I would describe as a success. The stories all feel very generic beyond the economical aspects and this includes love relationships, power struggles, the Nazi years (of course!) and just conflicts within the family about all kinds of aspects. But it is also a troubling watch for the audience, not an engaging one. I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
RichardBurkhard
I've been a fan of Uli Edel for many years, and his best work- CHRISTIANE F., LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, PURGATORY, THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX- usually concerns the dregs of society. How surprising then to find him venturing into Merchant-Ivory territory with this extended historical portrait of German wealth and privilege. As an American, I went in assuming the family struggles over a famous Berlin hotel would be of little-to-no interest, yet I was immediately taken by the stories and characters who never come off as rich stereotypes. Like Luchino Visconti, Edel has great affection for the manners and trappings of bygone eras, and he ably depicts the changing decades with smart, compact scenes. Unlike Visconti, he's also enough of an old-fashioned entertainer to hang all the period detail on compelling story lines. You get all the expected German saga moments: mysterious births, tragic deaths, love affairs, betrayals, class differences, business success and failure, decadence, and Nazis, but the sharp direction, evocative misc-en-scene, and solid pacing keeps it above and beyond the TV soap level. If you enjoy Visconti's lush portraits of the aristocracy like THE LEOPARD, DEATH IN VENICE, or THE DAMNED, you'll find DAS ADLON a comparable treat.
tronicum
I have to agree on both previous reviews. It is not as bad as Onkelyogi wrote but not as good as ChrisWasser praises it. Kaiser Wilhelm is played as a total jerk, close to Helge Schneider style of acting. The classic German actors like Ferch and Möhring deliver some decent acting. But the unknown ones (like Kaiser Wilhelm and others) really bad. As the gap between them is visible so clearly, the quality of some scenes jumps from zero to hero and down again depending on the actors. The artwork is really nice so if you don't like the storyline, the picture work makes up for it. Costumes are nice, too. Some shots within the surroundings or city of Berlin would have been added some reference to the lifestyle of that time.
onkelyogi
once again German TV productions proof how easy one can burn 10'' or 20'' $ on a historical content and get ZERO out of it. Aldon chains up with the latest ken follett miniseries or 'wanderhure' where you would need a 3-digit-million-budget to cover the books. these historical contents could be the next gladiator movie or boardwalk empire miniseries, however with only a few million plus some German amateur actors from the kiddy club program you get 100% bs. also i thought it would be easy to produce a hotel story with 90% indoor shots and the historical site still alive in Berlin, i was terribly wrong. after seeing kaiser William ii. for the first time in part 1 i simply switched off my TV. that guy looked exactly like the English political cartoons during ww1. and all of this rubbish payed for by all German citizens, coz it was a ZDF production by the non-private network where every German is so happy to pay $200 p.a. ROFL.
