Carl & Bertha
Carl & Bertha is a German television - Biography from the year 2011 . The historical film is loosely based on the life of Carl Benz and his wife Bertha .
action
In 1870 the two business partners August Ritter and Carl Benz presented the invention of a horseless carriage during a celebration in Pforzheim at which Bertha Ringer and Wilhelm von Mannstedt also wanted to get engaged. Both have a vision and are looking for donors. But von Mannstedt Senior, the Patriarch von Mannstedt, refuses any support for Carl, so that he goes away angry and cursing. At the party itself, he met the young Bertha Ringer and convinced her with his ideas, so that she gave in to her doubts about Wilhelm, canceled the engagement and from then on met with Carl secretly against her father's will. But Carl has his own problems. Because he always reacts angrily to rejection, Ritter gets out of the joint company and takes his capital with him, so that Carl is highly indebted with nothing. He promises Bertha to first apologize before he can offer her a life and marry her. But Bertha is so convinced of him that she asks her father for a loan of 4,244 gold marks. Since the latter refuses, she has her dowry paid out and marries Carl, which makes him debt-free.
But even nine years later, when the Benz family lived in Mannheim in 1879 , the financial situation did not improve. The family lives in poor conditions, while Carl had to give up his vision in order to accept every job as a mechanic so that he could earn enough money for his family. When one day the court photographer Emil Bühler orders photo plates from Benz, he is so convinced of his technical skills that he offers himself as an investor for his idea of the horseless carriage. Carl finally has money again and Bertha can finally pay her bills again. Like a man possessed, Carl then works day and night on his engine and thereby endangers his health. After all, he misses deadline after deadline and is supposed to have a functioning engine ready by the end of the year before Bühler steps back as an investor. At Christmas, Bertha sees her friend Corinna married Wilhelm in wealthy circles. She doubts whether living with Carl and the impending poverty was the right decision. But on New Year's Eve, Carl eliminates her doubts by showing her that his engine is working.
Production of the engines can finally begin. But after a while, Benz needs more capital to increase production and eventually make more money. Accordingly, Bühler suggests converting his company into a stock corporation. With the issue of the first shares, the Mannheim gas engine factory finally begins production. However, after a while the shareholders will get in touch. Gottlieb Daimler claims that Benz stole his ideas from him. Daimler sued him for patent infringement for 37,000 gold marks. The shareholders are threatened with bankruptcy, which is why they offer Carl to sort out the matter for all of his shares, management and all income from future inventions. Only Bertha believes in her Carl, so she convinces him to decline the offer. Carl pays them off and from now on lives in poverty again and takes care of new investors. In Ulm he finally found two donors, Max Kasper Rose and Wilhelm Esslinger, to whom he immediately suggested a bigger idea.
He patented the idea as a tricycle on November 2, 1886, seven years later. His first test drive through the city ends with an accident after some cheers. He is banned from using the vehicle even under threat from the police. Carl is dismayed and can also listen to his sons' doubts. But Bertha encourages him again, after all, he will soon be able to sell his first vehicles at an exhibition. Although he meets Daimler there at this one, nobody wants to buy a vehicle from him, which is why he wants to give up. Wilhelm von Mannstedt would buy all the rights to his vehicle from him and thus pay off all debts. But Bertha doesn't like this idea, which is why she and her sons set out to drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim . After refilling their tank with ligroin and mending the sheath of the V-belt with the garter belt, they finally manage to get to grandmother after 12 hours and 57 minutes to great cheers. She sends a telegram to her husband, who fortunately had previously rejected the sales contract with Wilhelm. He didn't like his lack of visionary power, and he believed himself that his wife would make it.
background
The shooting took place in October 2010 in the open air museum Wackershofen , in Baden-Baden , Gernsbach , Neuried-Ichenheim and Rastatt ( Favorite Castle ). The car used in the film is a faithful replica from an English museum. The shooting of the scenes in which Woll drives across the country as Bertha took three days. During Carl’s city trip, a front wheel broke off while turning.
The film was shown for the first time on German television on Monday, May 23, 2011 on Das Erste as part of the “Mobility Themed Week” for the 125th anniversary of the automobile . It reached 4.28 million viewers, which corresponds to a market share of 14.6 percent. The DVD has been available since May 20, 2011.
criticism
"Biographical (television) film that all too smoothly and colorlessly combines the story of a groundbreaking invention with that of an unconditional love."
“With great pictures and a successful dramaturgy, director Till Endemann […] staged important stages in the life of the famous car pioneer (1844–1929). The story focuses on Benz's difficulties in realizing his great lifelong dream, which ultimately came true thanks to unshakable trust, confidence and his great love. Based on contemporary documents, correspondence, photos and books from the Mercedes-Benz corporate archive, author Stefan Rogall [...] provided an authentic picture of the times that is reinforced by the use of historic vehicles. "
“The film sharpens the eye for the means of transport that have become commonplace and the technical performance that lies behind it. In rare moments it even impresses with unexpected jokes, for example when Bertha declares a pharmacy to be the first gas station in the world and refills the car with stain water. "
Web links
- Carl & Bertha in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ SWR press release on Carl & Bertha, p. 4 ( online ; PDF; 5.3 MB)
- ↑ Visiting the shoot. In: Badische Zeitung of October 27, 2010 ( online ).
- ↑ Cornelia Wystrichowski: Interview with Bertha Benz actress Felicitas Woll about driving and the film on tagblatt.de from May 23, 2011, accessed on May 18, 2013
- ↑ Ordinary quota for ARD film “Carl & Bertha” ( memento of the original from January 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on news.de on May 24, 2011, accessed on May 18, 2013
- ↑ Carl & Bertha. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Carl & Bertha on prisma.de , accessed on May 18, 2013
- ↑ Anna-Lena Buchmaier: ARD feature film for the 125th birthday of Carl Benz ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on tagblatt.de from May 23, 2011, accessed on May 18, 2013
