"Stilles Tal", which means "Silent Valley", is a German television movie that premiered back in 2011, May 2011 to be precise, so really not long at all anymore until this one has its tenth anniversary. You can see pretty much all the key characters here on the poster that somebody uploaded to imdb. You can also read the title of the movie there, so I am not even sure if it is a good idea I translated it because in fact, it really refers to the title of a restaurant/pub in this movie and is linked to the characters' names being Stille, but also it is some kind of double meaning with how silent the area they lived in was before catastrophe happened. But before I move on, let's stay with the basiscs for a little longer. The movie runs for almost 1.5 hours just like the vast majority of German small screen releases, especially if we are talking about ARD movies or films that are constantly show on the smaller channels that also indirectly belong to ARD. The director here is Marcus O. Rosenmüller, the lesser known from the two German filmmakers with the exact same name, but he has been very prolific nonetheless over the years. Up until 2021. Occasionally, Rosenmüller also worked as a writer in his movies, but only for like one third of his works, maybe even less, so no massive surprise that for this one here they also hired two other witers who took care of coming up with the screenplay. Michael Illner is the younger, but still the way more prolific from the two if we compare him to Alfred Roesler-Kleint for whom it is no family affair this time. Just saying because the other day I saw another film by him in which he worked with somebody of the same last name. By the way, in that movie Wolfgang Stumph also played a lead character.
I watched this film on the occasion of a little collection of movies shown now because Stumph turns 75 these days. Which means he was 65 back then. These films here are not as known as his Trabi movies and probably also his Stubbe films, but the parallel is there because here he also plays an East German character. Obviously as the film is set in the new millennium already, we know exactly when because of the event it depicts, this is reunited Germany though. But let's get to the story later. There's basically four fairly famous actors in here. The second male that fits the description is Robert Atzorn. He is also an actor I am usually fine with. Those two guys are definitely better than the material they were given here. They should have refused to star in this film. The two actresses that play the wives of these two males are Ulrike Krumbiegel and Victoria Trauttmansdorff. I cannot say too much about the former, even if her name is pretty known too and I have seen her in other works. Nothing out of the ordinary honestly and I think she has also been in some other pretty bad films. With Trauttmansfdorff I am at least a little disappointed because there is at least one film I will always remember her for that is about violence in the marriage. I think she is also much better than she can show us here. In general, the focus is on the two men though and also more on Stumph's than Atzorn's character I would say, but maybe it's just that Stumph has better screen presence and that the film takes place at Stumph's home. They are kinda equals here. About the younger actors, i.e. Alles (interesting name) and Wlaschiha, I cannot say too much really. I think I have heard the name of the latter before and seen him somewhere else, but I don't really remember.
Now as for the story, it must be said that this film is set in 2002 when there was a flood in Central Europe so heavy as and severe the way it happens only once a century. Pretty difficult to translate "Jahrhundertflut". Still, this plot only becomes a factor in the second half of the movie. In the first half, it is basically more about business. We have a guy run a restaurant/pub and all of a sudden another guy show up and claims the place belongs to him because of old family connection. A complicated legal matter, but the new guy seems to be in the right according to the law. Sadly, the man who is running the place now is not properly informed by his lawyer (to take blame away from Stumph's character, he shall still be seen as likable), so he simply stays inside. This is already where the struggles began, like how we have Atzorn's character and the character's wife be inside a car outside of the place waiting forever for the other guy to leave. They get in police as well, but this is not working out and kinda awkward because the police officer is a friend of Stumph's character. He still has to fulfill his duty and acts accordingly, but Stumph's character just won't open up. The police officer is played by Karl-Fred Müller by the way, who is sadly no longer with us and he did not even reach an old age or something. So I just mentioned the friendship between two characters and Stumph's character here seems to be friends with many people really. The best (or quality-wise worst) example is the group of Bundesweh soldiers passing by that won't help when Atzorn's character asks them to, but does when Stumph's character knows the leader from a party a while ago. Okay, honestly this was when things were getting a bit too absurd and while at it, they also used this scene to make a connection between the two protagonists here because every helping hand was needed and soon their disputes were forgotten.
There was just too much happening in this film to feel realistic and authentic. I mean the massive flood is one thing. But there is so much more. We have a highly pregnant character here. We have Atzorn's character's different health struggles (the wound on his head, the heart condition), we have the pregnant woman bonding with the kid's father through coincidence etc. Also, even this film was not as anti-male as many other German small screen releases, there are still moments that feel a bit like it. Like the guy who becomes a father I just mentioned and he is dcpicted as reckless and irresponsible early on and let's not elaborate on what would have happened if a guy says that he has had sex with many different people. He would be a main antagonist basically. If a woman says so, it is fine of course, even if it is probably not the truth. All this may sound a bit harsh, but I am not exaggerating here. The small moments were also never really convincing. Or when they are okay, they use them for long enough until it gets cringeworthy. Take the mention of Dixie Dörner and the story behind the woman's name, which was fine for the first occasions, but not good enough to be referenced again. Also how it is depicted that the young man does not know this football player was also not exactly good filmmaking. Or take the scene with the two men alone on the water out there and how Stumph's character gets out a little box packed with memories that Atzorn's character hid away when he was a boy. Now that may have been sweet, but this very moment it felt so fake really that it wasn't even acceptable any more. Nothing but for the sake of it all. There's other moments like this too.
The only aspect I kinda liked without any negative attached to it was the inclusion of a bit of foreshadowing with the young kid playing in the sand, but once would have been enough too there. I guess they also used it at the end to avoid a truly unhappy ending, but then they should have left it out at the start. And honestly, how the camera moved to the the little item on the ground there did feel a bit off as well. This is definitely not Inception and sometimes the film took itself more seriously than it had the right to, not because the event was not serious enough, but because the talent (especially from the folks behind the camera and rest of the crew) simply wasn't there at all in my opinion. The inclusion to actually kill off one key character at the end here was unusual, but I don't think it was a bad decision. Over 100 people died back then, so it makes sense to depict these events as harshly as they were, also in terms of casualties. The real problem there was that the specific of the death felt so shallow and terrible. Of course, it would happen right before he was saved with the other guy still hanging up there and seeing what is about to happen. And the depiction of the collision was also simply not goof. This was such a crucial moment and honestly it showed all the filmmakers' shortcomings here. I just cannot give it anything other than my lowest rating after this. The mix between this tragedy and the death of Stumph's character and at the same time the birth was also very pseudo important. The talent for such gravity was not there. They tried it, but they failed. The okay moments are very rare compared to moments and inclusions where this film hit rock bottom rather. And the latter happens way too often. Pity because this is a subject that was massive back then in 2002 and there are not many movies dealing with it and this is why it really would have deserved a better outcome here. I give this film a massive thumbs-down. Certainly not recommended.
I watched this film on the occasion of a little collection of movies shown now because Stumph turns 75 these days. Which means he was 65 back then. These films here are not as known as his Trabi movies and probably also his Stubbe films, but the parallel is there because here he also plays an East German character. Obviously as the film is set in the new millennium already, we know exactly when because of the event it depicts, this is reunited Germany though. But let's get to the story later. There's basically four fairly famous actors in here. The second male that fits the description is Robert Atzorn. He is also an actor I am usually fine with. Those two guys are definitely better than the material they were given here. They should have refused to star in this film. The two actresses that play the wives of these two males are Ulrike Krumbiegel and Victoria Trauttmansdorff. I cannot say too much about the former, even if her name is pretty known too and I have seen her in other works. Nothing out of the ordinary honestly and I think she has also been in some other pretty bad films. With Trauttmansfdorff I am at least a little disappointed because there is at least one film I will always remember her for that is about violence in the marriage. I think she is also much better than she can show us here. In general, the focus is on the two men though and also more on Stumph's than Atzorn's character I would say, but maybe it's just that Stumph has better screen presence and that the film takes place at Stumph's home. They are kinda equals here. About the younger actors, i.e. Alles (interesting name) and Wlaschiha, I cannot say too much really. I think I have heard the name of the latter before and seen him somewhere else, but I don't really remember.
Now as for the story, it must be said that this film is set in 2002 when there was a flood in Central Europe so heavy as and severe the way it happens only once a century. Pretty difficult to translate "Jahrhundertflut". Still, this plot only becomes a factor in the second half of the movie. In the first half, it is basically more about business. We have a guy run a restaurant/pub and all of a sudden another guy show up and claims the place belongs to him because of old family connection. A complicated legal matter, but the new guy seems to be in the right according to the law. Sadly, the man who is running the place now is not properly informed by his lawyer (to take blame away from Stumph's character, he shall still be seen as likable), so he simply stays inside. This is already where the struggles began, like how we have Atzorn's character and the character's wife be inside a car outside of the place waiting forever for the other guy to leave. They get in police as well, but this is not working out and kinda awkward because the police officer is a friend of Stumph's character. He still has to fulfill his duty and acts accordingly, but Stumph's character just won't open up. The police officer is played by Karl-Fred Müller by the way, who is sadly no longer with us and he did not even reach an old age or something. So I just mentioned the friendship between two characters and Stumph's character here seems to be friends with many people really. The best (or quality-wise worst) example is the group of Bundesweh soldiers passing by that won't help when Atzorn's character asks them to, but does when Stumph's character knows the leader from a party a while ago. Okay, honestly this was when things were getting a bit too absurd and while at it, they also used this scene to make a connection between the two protagonists here because every helping hand was needed and soon their disputes were forgotten.
There was just too much happening in this film to feel realistic and authentic. I mean the massive flood is one thing. But there is so much more. We have a highly pregnant character here. We have Atzorn's character's different health struggles (the wound on his head, the heart condition), we have the pregnant woman bonding with the kid's father through coincidence etc. Also, even this film was not as anti-male as many other German small screen releases, there are still moments that feel a bit like it. Like the guy who becomes a father I just mentioned and he is dcpicted as reckless and irresponsible early on and let's not elaborate on what would have happened if a guy says that he has had sex with many different people. He would be a main antagonist basically. If a woman says so, it is fine of course, even if it is probably not the truth. All this may sound a bit harsh, but I am not exaggerating here. The small moments were also never really convincing. Or when they are okay, they use them for long enough until it gets cringeworthy. Take the mention of Dixie Dörner and the story behind the woman's name, which was fine for the first occasions, but not good enough to be referenced again. Also how it is depicted that the young man does not know this football player was also not exactly good filmmaking. Or take the scene with the two men alone on the water out there and how Stumph's character gets out a little box packed with memories that Atzorn's character hid away when he was a boy. Now that may have been sweet, but this very moment it felt so fake really that it wasn't even acceptable any more. Nothing but for the sake of it all. There's other moments like this too.
The only aspect I kinda liked without any negative attached to it was the inclusion of a bit of foreshadowing with the young kid playing in the sand, but once would have been enough too there. I guess they also used it at the end to avoid a truly unhappy ending, but then they should have left it out at the start. And honestly, how the camera moved to the the little item on the ground there did feel a bit off as well. This is definitely not Inception and sometimes the film took itself more seriously than it had the right to, not because the event was not serious enough, but because the talent (especially from the folks behind the camera and rest of the crew) simply wasn't there at all in my opinion. The inclusion to actually kill off one key character at the end here was unusual, but I don't think it was a bad decision. Over 100 people died back then, so it makes sense to depict these events as harshly as they were, also in terms of casualties. The real problem there was that the specific of the death felt so shallow and terrible. Of course, it would happen right before he was saved with the other guy still hanging up there and seeing what is about to happen. And the depiction of the collision was also simply not goof. This was such a crucial moment and honestly it showed all the filmmakers' shortcomings here. I just cannot give it anything other than my lowest rating after this. The mix between this tragedy and the death of Stumph's character and at the same time the birth was also very pseudo important. The talent for such gravity was not there. They tried it, but they failed. The okay moments are very rare compared to moments and inclusions where this film hit rock bottom rather. And the latter happens way too often. Pity because this is a subject that was massive back then in 2002 and there are not many movies dealing with it and this is why it really would have deserved a better outcome here. I give this film a massive thumbs-down. Certainly not recommended.
