"Bergkristall" is a German German-language film from 2004 and one of the more recent efforts by director Joseph Vilsmaier, even if the film is also almost 15 years old already. This one is from the days when his wife Dana Vavrova was still alive and of course she appears in here too just like some of their children. Also on board, but with not too much screen time is Katja Riemann and so is her daughter, so it is a bit of a family affair. The script is by Klaus Richter and it is of course based on an old tale by Adalbert Stifter and this is not the first time this one has been turned into a film, but maybe the most known. Like pretty much all other works by Vilsmaier, there is a strong South German component in here in terms of language and photography: the mountains are dominant. Still atg the center of it all is the story of two families who have not gotten alonge well at all for a long time and what happens when their young children do get along better than anybody would want them to. The performances are all solid, the photography is decent and the story is not too shabby either and yet there was something missing here for me to get me really to care about the characters depicted I must say. It's tough to put a finger on it what the exact reason may be. It's not necessarily the bleakness of it all or that I did not really connect with any of the characters in here I think. I just did not care for anybody overall or what would happen to them or that the families eventually get along and/or that the kids may spend as much time with each other as they want to. The heart that the film offers felt like it never got an approach where it really gets you emotionally involved and the eventual search for the kids in the mountainside is when the film is perhaps at its weakest as it tries so hard to be a dramatic highlight, but never really comes even close to truly making an impact. Or making an impact at all. Quite a shame to be honest. I think this film had all the potential to be something far better than it eventually turned out. You will find quite a few known names and familiar faces from Germany's movie industry in here. Some I mentioned already and others would be the young Lau and Goeske, but also Tidof, Wlaschiha, Knaup and others you probably came across in other projects already if you are interested in German film. Nonetheless I overall do not recommend checking out these slightly under 1.5 hours. It wasn't a memorable watch on any occasion. Go for something else instead.
Review of Bergkristall
