Horst_In_Translation Review of Trial by Fire

Trial by Fire (1998)

Solid premise and execution, but really bad on some occasions which destroys the overall outcome

[4/10 · 7 March 2017]

The 80-minute "Härtetest" or "Auch ohne Frau unglücklich" or "The Hardship Test" or "Trial by Fire" is a German movie from 1998, which means it will have its 20th anniversary next year. The writer and director here is Janek Rieke and he also plays the main character. Apparently working behind the camera didn't do too much for him as he never returned to it and just kept working as an actor in the two decades since then. This is a bit of a pity as the movie shows decent premise overall and has some situations and scenes in particular where it is an interesting watch. However, if you read here on IMDb that this is a romantic comedy looking at the genres, then this could not be any further from the truth. There is a great deal of violence in here and many serious subjects like (attempted) rape, eco-terrorism and gunshot wounds. So this is not a light film at all. And this is a good thing for the most part. But sadly, then there are also moments when it all goes wrong, such as the final "thrilling" showdown with the female protagonist being unconscious and how the male (while completely untrained at fighting) needs to save her. This is also a final reference to the subject of him supposed to show he has guts so she accepts him and honestly this ending scene feels so unrealistic and fake for the sake of it. Also while I am certainly not on any extreme side of the political scale (right or left), it felt occasionally too much of a left-wing film for me the way how Nazis are depicted as brain-dead idiots who shoot their own people by accident. So there were several details in this film that left a negative note on an otherwise solid mix of romance and drama in here. Disappointing as this film could have been better easily with more and more talented attention to detail. However, the way it turned out it is nothing I can give a thumbs-up or recommend. Also the awards attention seems to be a bit over the top.