"Grzimek" is a German television film from 2 years ago. The director is Roland Suso Richter and he is pretty known here as he was the man in charge of quite a handful of Germany's most known small screen releases of the 21st century. The writer is Marco Rossi and while he is certainly not a big name like RSR, he is also a pretty experienced writer. This one here is most likely his most famous work. The title already gives away that it is all about Grzimek. Of course, Bernhard is in the center of it all, but the film still focuses on the other Grzimeks, such as the protagonist's wives and also his (ill-fated) children. The cast includes established actors like Ulrich Tukur, Barbara Auer and Katharina Schüttler. And the consequence is that the acting here is quite decent. The film itself may need a little while to get going and become interesting, but the longer it goes, the better it gets. This is a really long movie and at slightly under three hours, it is certainly possible to watch this in two (maybe even three or four) sittings as a mini-series almost. The good thing is that despite its runtime, it basically never drags.
People should not expect a nature or wildlife documentary here. All the focus is really on Bernhard Grzimek and the ones close to him. It is about his fight for nature, but also about his flaws in terms of human relationships. I must say I did not know too much about Grzimek apart from the regular stuff before watching this one and I still believe that even those who know more than I do will still learn something new, for example about his view on laying batteries. Or about the parallel to Cousteau when it comes to Grzimek's take on women and his own offspring. Overall, this is a definite contender for best German small screen movie from 2015 and the outcome is quite respectable. I may be a bit biased here as I also care about nature and the environment, but also aside from this major plot point, the film offered enough family drama to make people care for it. I will admit that moments of true greatness can probably not be found in here, but still I found it an interesting watch from start to finish. My favorite (even if maybe saddest) scene is the one about Thomas and the press conference at the very end almost. Overall, there is no denying that this film deserves a thumbs-up and it is probably way closer to 4 stars out of 5 than to 2 stars out of 5. It may not be too easy to get a hand on this outside of Germany, but if you have the chance to see, then give it a go. You certainly don't want to miss it.
People should not expect a nature or wildlife documentary here. All the focus is really on Bernhard Grzimek and the ones close to him. It is about his fight for nature, but also about his flaws in terms of human relationships. I must say I did not know too much about Grzimek apart from the regular stuff before watching this one and I still believe that even those who know more than I do will still learn something new, for example about his view on laying batteries. Or about the parallel to Cousteau when it comes to Grzimek's take on women and his own offspring. Overall, this is a definite contender for best German small screen movie from 2015 and the outcome is quite respectable. I may be a bit biased here as I also care about nature and the environment, but also aside from this major plot point, the film offered enough family drama to make people care for it. I will admit that moments of true greatness can probably not be found in here, but still I found it an interesting watch from start to finish. My favorite (even if maybe saddest) scene is the one about Thomas and the press conference at the very end almost. Overall, there is no denying that this film deserves a thumbs-up and it is probably way closer to 4 stars out of 5 than to 2 stars out of 5. It may not be too easy to get a hand on this outside of Germany, but if you have the chance to see, then give it a go. You certainly don't want to miss it.
