Der Mann mit dem Fagott (2011) Online

Udo Jürgens is one of the most popular musicians in German history. Even though I don't like his music too much, this film gave me a good time, despite it's length (more than 3.5 hours!). Director Miguel Alexandre has made some good films in the past and this might be his best one. He stays focused on the characters and the story, doesn't use too much cliché and creates an authentic atmosphere. Even though the film is set in four different countries and is not always linear, I never got lost or bored. The film also avoids to become another piece of teaching Germans how bad their history is and, again, always stays focused on what is important. It was easy for me to feel with the characters and the story made sense. You see the small budget at some points in the film, but hey, for a TV movie it's still pretty big.

"Der Mann mit dem Fagott" is a German/Austrian co-production from 2011, so this one had its 5th anniversary last year. It consists of two parts and runs for a total of over 3.5 hours, so this is a really massive film in terms of quantity. The director and also one of the writers here is Miguel Alexandre and the original novel this is based on is by late singer Udo Jürgens, who is also at the very center of this film as it starts right away with him before the film takes us basically on a journey into his family history. And this includes a lot more than just how Jürgens became famous, but also crucial parts about his family members before him. Overall, well I must sadly say that the impact the film was trying to make from a historic or biopic perspective was not working out. At no point, it was a failure, but for a runtime like that, they simply have to offer better quality if they expect audiences to sit through a 200+ minute movie. This is especially disappointing as the cast is fabulous and this is even more impressive because here we have a small-screen production of course. Noethen, Berkel, Knaup, Lust... is really something you won't find that often in television projects. This also shows how famous and popular Jürgens was, still is today a couple years after his death and the fact that he may not have been the greatest actor is not a problem either as he really did not have that much screen time in here. He is played by David Rott most of the time and that's fine I guess. Nothing bad about the performance. As for the singing parts, however, there was definitely something awkward, but I also would not blame Rott because Jürgens' voice is so unique and distinct that it would seem awkward to hear it coming out of anybody else's mouth. So yes overall, the film came a bit short and I would not recommend it. One reason may be that despite how close to a legend Jürgens is, the film did not convince me that the other key characters here deserve a film about them. So maybe a 2-hour film with 95% focus on Jürgens' character would have been the better choice as I give this one here a thumbs-down and suggest you check out an Udo Jürgens concert DVD instead or listen to one of his many records. Sadly this film does no justice here to his great voice and career and the fact how this really isn't seen by many at all so far says all about the quality. Skip it.