"Der Geruch von Erde", which means "The Smell of Soil" is a German television film from 2014, so also over half a decade old now. The director is Marcul Ulbricht, a fairly prolific filmmaker here in Germany, while the script is by Ulbricht, Pflüger and Schulze and this is not the only occasion the latter two worked together. Admittedly, Schulze is far from prolific and it shows here. Actually, that is a good thing. I find it still pretty shocking how three people can work on a screenplay and the outcome is as horrible as here. Now as for the cast, I think it is just sad that Maria Simon has to accept lead roles in films like this. If I remember correctly, she was supposed to have quite a future. As for Baumeister, I am not too surprised. I always thought she was more stunning than talented. Sebastian Bezzel I like his region-based crime comedy movies. A lot actually. But this one here shows that once he really has to deliver on the drama front, he is completely unarmed. Quite a pity. I did not think he would be this bad. Thure Riefenstein I have seen in other films as well. He does not have a lot of range either, so it was good he was barely in this one. The one who is in it even less is Sascha Alexander Gersak. Has he more than one scene? Anyway, there is at least one film from him I really liked and where she showed that he is quite talented with the right role, so it fits in nicely that here he had absolutely nothing to work with in terms of both quantity and quality. So he was wasted and they could have gotten a much worse actor to play the part. The actor who plays the father I didn't know.
This is a pretty generic story with a woman retuning to her hometown when her father becomes sick. It's been done so many times in German films, especially small screen releases. The consequence is of course that she runs into old friends and foes. And an old love. This one is played by Bezzel here and it is really tough to stomach at times. The constant back and forth in the second half ot the film is just painful to watch before of course we get the expected (implied) happy ending with the two becoming a couple despite what happened before that. Well, Simon's character's struggles with how she thinks he is not the one for her (or at least we should think so with this pseudo drama) basically depicted how now to write a convincing romance plot. Indirectly linked to this is Baumeister's character, who just wants her revenge. Rarely have I seen a main antagonist who felt so obsolete really. And adds nothing. She is also linked to the financial struggles you also find in every one of these German television movies shown in the afternoon. Which in the end is of course solved as well. Fittingly with political correctness these days, they also got in their pro climate change message here on at least one occasion. Don't forget these cows fart, will you? Anyway, even as a vegetarian I thought the story with saving the cows from the slaughterhouse was poorly constructed, even if I agree with the general approach there. It was just for the easily entertained you know, those who eat their schnitzel while applauding the people in this film. Made for a really simple audience. Honestly in the film's first half, also because of Baumeister's and Simon's fine looks and because Bezzel was not yet that wooden, I felt I could give this film at least 4 stars out of 10 and say it is weak, but it is not a failure, but the second half turned out so hossibly wrong that it is simply impossible for me to do so. The best example is really when she runs into that police car and police officer near the end and after the big fight (funny how she brought in the emancipation argument there) finds her father lying in the forest with what was another heart attack or so. Drama for the sake of it at its worst and one must really be a fool to perceive her as some kind of heroine after cyrring daddy to the ambulance on her own. Oh well, she would not want this kind of praise, so let's not give it to her. Very bad film eventually, only the first half keeps me from saying this is one of the very worst films of 2014. But one of the worst maybe. Highly not recommended, also as usual because of the over-the-top soundtrack, especially during the more dramatic moments. They shoved everything into our faces here and they did not deliver half of the quality and creativity they should have delivered looking at how this film takes itself really seriously. By the way, takes a special lack of talent to make a really good song like the one we hear at the end feel so insignifcant. I won't mention the titles as (even if they agreed for the song to be used) I am pretty sure they would not be happy with how the song was used. Shallow beyond belief! And finally I would like to mention soemthing in this film I found really worrying because it did not only happen here, but also in many other German small screen films: I am talking about the way males and females are depicted, which seems as if the writer(s) must really despise men. The father is a stubborn, old, anti-female (although there is nothing that indicates this) hillbilly. The lover is a guy who cheated on his girlfriend (i.e. the protagonist), back when she went abroad for a while. And now he has to apologize for everything, show constantly that he is sorry. But the female is a likable woman who gets done stuff herself and doesn't need a man for strenuous farm work for example. No discussion on why she left behind her man and her family out of nowhere for over a decade. I mean it's okay right, she was heartbroken. She could have done everything (including shooting her boyfriend) and it would have been justified. I see a really worrying tendency when it comes to gender writing for German television films. So if any future filmmakers are reading this, I encourage you to stop this trend please.
This is a pretty generic story with a woman retuning to her hometown when her father becomes sick. It's been done so many times in German films, especially small screen releases. The consequence is of course that she runs into old friends and foes. And an old love. This one is played by Bezzel here and it is really tough to stomach at times. The constant back and forth in the second half ot the film is just painful to watch before of course we get the expected (implied) happy ending with the two becoming a couple despite what happened before that. Well, Simon's character's struggles with how she thinks he is not the one for her (or at least we should think so with this pseudo drama) basically depicted how now to write a convincing romance plot. Indirectly linked to this is Baumeister's character, who just wants her revenge. Rarely have I seen a main antagonist who felt so obsolete really. And adds nothing. She is also linked to the financial struggles you also find in every one of these German television movies shown in the afternoon. Which in the end is of course solved as well. Fittingly with political correctness these days, they also got in their pro climate change message here on at least one occasion. Don't forget these cows fart, will you? Anyway, even as a vegetarian I thought the story with saving the cows from the slaughterhouse was poorly constructed, even if I agree with the general approach there. It was just for the easily entertained you know, those who eat their schnitzel while applauding the people in this film. Made for a really simple audience. Honestly in the film's first half, also because of Baumeister's and Simon's fine looks and because Bezzel was not yet that wooden, I felt I could give this film at least 4 stars out of 10 and say it is weak, but it is not a failure, but the second half turned out so hossibly wrong that it is simply impossible for me to do so. The best example is really when she runs into that police car and police officer near the end and after the big fight (funny how she brought in the emancipation argument there) finds her father lying in the forest with what was another heart attack or so. Drama for the sake of it at its worst and one must really be a fool to perceive her as some kind of heroine after cyrring daddy to the ambulance on her own. Oh well, she would not want this kind of praise, so let's not give it to her. Very bad film eventually, only the first half keeps me from saying this is one of the very worst films of 2014. But one of the worst maybe. Highly not recommended, also as usual because of the over-the-top soundtrack, especially during the more dramatic moments. They shoved everything into our faces here and they did not deliver half of the quality and creativity they should have delivered looking at how this film takes itself really seriously. By the way, takes a special lack of talent to make a really good song like the one we hear at the end feel so insignifcant. I won't mention the titles as (even if they agreed for the song to be used) I am pretty sure they would not be happy with how the song was used. Shallow beyond belief! And finally I would like to mention soemthing in this film I found really worrying because it did not only happen here, but also in many other German small screen films: I am talking about the way males and females are depicted, which seems as if the writer(s) must really despise men. The father is a stubborn, old, anti-female (although there is nothing that indicates this) hillbilly. The lover is a guy who cheated on his girlfriend (i.e. the protagonist), back when she went abroad for a while. And now he has to apologize for everything, show constantly that he is sorry. But the female is a likable woman who gets done stuff herself and doesn't need a man for strenuous farm work for example. No discussion on why she left behind her man and her family out of nowhere for over a decade. I mean it's okay right, she was heartbroken. She could have done everything (including shooting her boyfriend) and it would have been justified. I see a really worrying tendency when it comes to gender writing for German television films. So if any future filmmakers are reading this, I encourage you to stop this trend please.
