"Du bist nicht allein - Die Roy Black Story" (which means You Are Not Alone) is an award-winning German-language movie from the 1990s, over 20 years old already and one of several productions between director Peter Keglevic and lead actor Christoph Waltz before his success in Hollywood. It was a small screen release "only", but this should not take away any quality from this slightly over 1.5-hour film. Roy Black may not be as known in America as Nena or Falco, but here in Germany and Austria especially, he was at least as big of a star and you can see in this movie how all these women are melting for him and his voice. Honestly, Waltz may not be physically the right choice for Black (Höllerich), but he makes up for it with his talent and versatility. Obviously he was cast for a reason. But it's not just him. The script is also pretty good and offers an insightful insight in and summary of Black's tumultous life starting with the days when he became famous. There we see the struggle between the music Black wants to make and the music he needs to make in order to be successful. Recurring Beatles references are the result. And the reference that Black always has two personalities inside him and his real authentic one differs so much from his stage character may be one of the main reasons that eventually lead to his hard and fast downfall that finally via alcoholism also results in his untimely death before the age of 50. But in the face of all these parts about how stardom destroys him, we also see moments and sequences from his personal life that could have taken place this way in everybody's life, also for normal non-celebrities like us. If you like the music, is of course a subjective issue here, but it is what it is as this is the kind of music Black is known for until today. So overall, another enjoyable early Waltz film (he was 40 or so at that point) that deserves to be checked out, but seems to be fairly difficult to find these days despite Waltz' rise to stardom a decade ago almost now. If you get a chance to see it, then go for it. If you don't expect a masterpiece and like the lead actor as much as I do, then you won't be disappointed. You're gonna see Christoph here in a way you most certainly have never seen him before. I give these 90 minutes a thumbs-up. Worth checking out.
3 Reviews
I agree this was a success and not just for Waltz
Horst_In_Translation14 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Very well done biopic
Dorthonion11 April 2002
I was actually very much surprised to see as decent a film like that on the RTL channel back in '97 or '96 - but only until I found out who had directed the film. Keglevic has done a very good job with Rudolf Kowalski (in a top role as the latter-day agent of Roy Black) and Christoph Waltz who convincingly portrayed the insecure rock-star made Schlagersänger. The film focuses on the years between his discovery and his decline, ending just before he is to comeback as an actor.
Christoph Waltz as Schlagersänger Roy Black – a diamond in the making
t_atzmueller1 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Roy Black is one of the more tragic figures of German post-WW2 pop music – Gerhard Höllerich, a boy from the deepest southern countryside, never wanted to be Roy Black; he wanted to be a Rocker like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison (his idol whom he adopted part of his artistic name from). But fate and the music industry had other plans for young Roy: his good looks and being a heartthrob for the female audience designated him to become a Schlagersänger (Schlager being the German version of wholesome, family-friendly 1950's Pop).
Instead of rocking out with the band, wearing black leather like John Lennon, Roy had to put on a perpetual grin that would have put Jack Nicholson's Joker to shame, put into a clean white suit and made to sing squeaky clean schmaltzy ballads like 'Ganz in Weiss' and 'Schön ist es auf der Welt zu sein' – which made him an instant hit at the top ten and an idol for millions of blue collar, middle-class citizens. A wall full of platinum records later, Roy is cast in a whole string of family-friendly comedies, none which is worth being mentioned here (I give you a hint though: imagine a cheesy comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson and add more schmaltz and cheese).
During the late 1970's the Schlager-industry was on the decline – and so was the career of Roy Black. The venues became smaller and smaller, the audience often reduced to members of his fan-club, consisting of aging housewives and soon Roy was reduced to a full-blown alcoholic who'd appear in folk-fests and birthday parties.
In the 1990's it briefly seemed as if Roy had a second chance, producing music again and appearing in numerous celebrated TV-shows and events – but it was too late: ravaged by years of alcohol abuse and having undergone numerous heart-operations, the singer was found dead in his fishing cabin in 1991; whether his heart gave out or whether he had drunk himself to death, remains unclear to the day.
What sets the film apart from many other made-for-TV biographical pictures is the performance of Christoph Waltz, playing Roy Black. Waltz does for "Du Bist Nicht Allein" what Val Kilmer did for "The Doors"; physically Waltz looks nothing like Black but within a few moments, the actor has the audience convinced that he is Roy Black. Almost 15 years prior to his role in "Inglorious Basterds", nobody would have guessed that Waltz would one day take the Oscar home but his fine performance has hints of brilliance yet to come. Lesser actors would have relied on over-acting, imitating Roy Blacks own ham-acting but Waltz relies on subtle nuances, portraying not so much the stage-persona Roy Black but rather the person Gerhard Höllerich, essentially an insecure man who never learned to find his own way in life.
This movie could have been made Rex Guildo or Drafi Deutscher (to name but two), without having to change much of the storyline – the story of Schlager-music is littered with similar tragic stories and people who performed shallow music but had deep issues.
Waltz' performance alone is a good reason to see the film, even when you're not familiar with either Roy Black or German Schlager. For German TV-standards it's 8 out of 10 points.
Instead of rocking out with the band, wearing black leather like John Lennon, Roy had to put on a perpetual grin that would have put Jack Nicholson's Joker to shame, put into a clean white suit and made to sing squeaky clean schmaltzy ballads like 'Ganz in Weiss' and 'Schön ist es auf der Welt zu sein' – which made him an instant hit at the top ten and an idol for millions of blue collar, middle-class citizens. A wall full of platinum records later, Roy is cast in a whole string of family-friendly comedies, none which is worth being mentioned here (I give you a hint though: imagine a cheesy comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson and add more schmaltz and cheese).
During the late 1970's the Schlager-industry was on the decline – and so was the career of Roy Black. The venues became smaller and smaller, the audience often reduced to members of his fan-club, consisting of aging housewives and soon Roy was reduced to a full-blown alcoholic who'd appear in folk-fests and birthday parties.
In the 1990's it briefly seemed as if Roy had a second chance, producing music again and appearing in numerous celebrated TV-shows and events – but it was too late: ravaged by years of alcohol abuse and having undergone numerous heart-operations, the singer was found dead in his fishing cabin in 1991; whether his heart gave out or whether he had drunk himself to death, remains unclear to the day.
What sets the film apart from many other made-for-TV biographical pictures is the performance of Christoph Waltz, playing Roy Black. Waltz does for "Du Bist Nicht Allein" what Val Kilmer did for "The Doors"; physically Waltz looks nothing like Black but within a few moments, the actor has the audience convinced that he is Roy Black. Almost 15 years prior to his role in "Inglorious Basterds", nobody would have guessed that Waltz would one day take the Oscar home but his fine performance has hints of brilliance yet to come. Lesser actors would have relied on over-acting, imitating Roy Blacks own ham-acting but Waltz relies on subtle nuances, portraying not so much the stage-persona Roy Black but rather the person Gerhard Höllerich, essentially an insecure man who never learned to find his own way in life.
This movie could have been made Rex Guildo or Drafi Deutscher (to name but two), without having to change much of the storyline – the story of Schlager-music is littered with similar tragic stories and people who performed shallow music but had deep issues.
Waltz' performance alone is a good reason to see the film, even when you're not familiar with either Roy Black or German Schlager. For German TV-standards it's 8 out of 10 points.
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