Redemption Road (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews

Heartbreaking and scary as Hell!

[sjrenter · 9/10 · 31 May 2023]

This film is so true to life that at first it makes a disappointing impression. Its spell lingers and eventually you get it.. There aren't the usual Nazi monsters only scared people who do monstrous things. Ronald Zefrfeld is as usual remarkable, never giving into the temptation of overplaying. Watch it and you'll appreciate the sincerity of this series., The quiet evil of the Nazi regime as depicted here is accurate and ultimately more terrifying than the usual snarling guys in the black leather coats. The regime passed inhumane laws that would justify all their actions; hence, all their crimes were"legal."

Interesting but poorly written and produced

[qui_j · 4/10 · 27 February 2019]

This is an interesting story but one that is marred by poor production, low budget, and a bad script. Choppy editing and the use of cliched events of the era also do not help. The plot has huge holes that stretch the viewer's limit of credibility. It comes across as a very amateurish production for what might have been a really good saga.

Sadly not nearly as epic as it tries to be

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 5 February 2018]

"Landgericht" or "Landgericht - Geschichte einer Familie" or "Redemption Road" is a German 2-part movie from fairly recently (2017) that spans over several decades telling us the story of a family starting before World War II. And of course this means there are Jewish characters involved here in this mostly German-language film. But sadly this one does not really bring anything new to the table. The director is Matthias Glasner and I like other stuff I've seen from him more than this one here I must admit. Some movies have proven that it is still very possible to make an impact given the subject, even if hundreds of films about it have already been released. But I would not really blame Glasner. The direction isn't too bad. The writer who adapted the novel this film is based on is Heide Schwochow and here she is working on it without her son Christian this time. The cast includes a couple known names, some good, some not so much. Zehrfeld, Wokalek, Auer, Wackernagel, Berkel, Löbau etc. can be seen in here and it is up to you to decide who belongs in which category. With the central character's legal background, we have something at the core of the movie that is interesting to watch indeed. Sadly at times they are trading authenticity for cheap shock effects like the collapse in the first half. The second episode is a bit longer than the first by the way. I am generally somebody who likes war/Nazi-themed films more than the average viewer, but even for me it was relatively dull this time and that includes both parts and I would give each of them a **/***** only and the entire project just the same. A bit of a pity. As I like Zehrfeld and also saw the imdb rating here, I thought this would be better. But it proved extremely generic and apart from costumes and sets perhaps there is nothing strong in this 3.5-hour (almost) television production. So it's fine I guess that for this one we got no possible sequel given the "finalness" of the story. I hope most people working on this one can return to the better quality they are usually putting on display. For "Landgericht" gets a thumbs-down from me. The talent clearly did not match the ambition here. Not recommended. Watch something else instead.