Glacier blood
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Glacier blood |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Thomas Kronthaler |
| script | Frank Dommel |
| production | Uli Aselmann |
| music | Martin Unterberger |
| camera | Christof Oefelein |
| cut | Anne Loewer |
| occupation | |
| |
Gletscherblut is a German television film by Thomas Kronthaler from 2009 , which was produced on behalf of ZDF . The main roles are played by Thomas Unger , who plays a professional diver who returns to his Tyrolean hometown after years, Tim Bergmann , who embodies a glaciologist , and Lisa Martinek , who gets caught between the fronts in her role as the mayor's daughter.
action
Markus Heuberger returns to his home town of Gremms in Tyrol to attend the wedding of his former girlfriend Lisa Hirtner with Carlo Bonatti. As soon as the ceremony is over, there are differences of opinion between the newlyweds. Lisa's father, Mayor of Gremms, plans to build a lift system on the nearby glacier to make the small town attractive for ski tourism all year round. Lisa, who was raised by her father alone and for this reason has a very close connection to him, and supports him in all his plans, tries to influence Carlo in her favor. He is a glaciologist and fears that the signs that point to a catastrophe on a large scale are condensing. He found that condensation, which should actually escape from the melting glacier, most likely accumulates underground in a gigantic pocket. If so, it should have reached enormous proportions by now. If at some point the ice can no longer withstand the pressure, there is a risk that the water will find its way into the valley in a torrential wave and bury Gremms under itself. Since Carlos's warnings do not fit the mayor's plans at all and he doesn't think too much of his son-in-law anyway, he exploits his daughter, clever as he is. He also commissioned Lisa to get Markus Heuberger to sell the house of his childhood, in which he lived alone with his mother and which is in the way of the expansion plans of the ski area, to the specially founded company as soon as possible.
Before Markus wants to return to his job, an oil rig in the North Sea, he goes back to the mountains with Carlos' father Toni Bonatti. He always had a particularly close connection to Toni and his wife Maria, even if he didn't get on at all with Carlo. This had made his life hell at the time. Toni is happy that Markus is finally back again. During their mountain hike, they assure each other of their affection and look back on old times. Toni decides to take a bath high up on a glacier lake, while Markus prefers to lie down in the sun and doze at the edge of the lake. Troubled by an almost eerie silence, he straightened up after a while and couldn't find Toni anywhere in the lake. His diving attempts are also unsuccessful. It looks like the crater lake has swallowed his fatherly friend.
Markus is faced with the difficult task of reporting to Maria what happened at the glacier lake. The situation is difficult for Carlo too, especially since his last conversation with his father was not a good one. Markus has nightmares in which he sees his fatherly friend drowning. Maria's request to the local mountain rescue service to look for Toni in the lake is refused. Markus says he wants to try it alone, but quickly realizes that he can only make limited progress this way. After he reappears, Carlo is standing on the lake shore. There is a fight between the two men. After that, however, a constructive conversation develops between the two of them. Further diving attempts by Markus follow, this time with the assistance of the glaciologist Carlo. Markus should find the connection between the lake and the glacier pocket. Carlo gives him Rhodamine B , a dye that colors the water red so that you can later see whether and where the water was leaking. On his return from the lake, Markus confirms Carlos' suspicions. Based on photos he took underwater, Carlo can also see the water bag. Mayor Hirtner is not even thinking of doing anything. Carlo falls out with Lisa, who stands by her father.
The red water makes its way under the glacier ice so that it looks like it is bleeding. The old villagers in particular are very concerned. Mayor Hirtner's phone no longer stands still. Lisa's posture is slowly faltering, however. Carlo and Markus have now decided to set up explosive charges at individual points in the lake so that they can determine the time and path of the water themselves. The water should run off in the stream bed where it can cause the least damage. However, the local mountain rescue service does not want to help. Here, too, Hirtner has his hands in the game, who got the head of the mountain rescue service on his side with untrue claims. After all, Lisa takes her husband's side and ensures that a helicopter brings the necessary equipment up the mountain. Carlo dives with Markus to distribute the explosive charges in the lake. At Maria's request, the church bell warns the villagers at the same time and a disaster alarm is triggered. In the depths of the vortex, Marcus then discovers Toni, who is dead. He takes a medallion that he wears around his neck. The demolition proceeds as Carlo planned and hoped for. A huge tidal wave paves its way into the valley without causing any damage to Gremms. There is still a surprise for Carlo and Markus. The medallion reveals that not only Carlo but also Markus is Toni's son. Toni probably wanted to protect Maria, says Markus, so he didn't say anything. Both agree that it's actually not that bad to have a brother all of a sudden.
production
Production notes
Gletscherblut was filmed from June 17th to July 17th, 2008 in Matrei , Kaunertal and Bucharest . The dives in the glacial lake were made in a water basin in Romania. Film GmbH was responsible for the film. Pit Rampelt was the responsible editor at ZDF. The glaciologist Dr. Wilfried Hagg was the expert who advised the film team. He said: “The individual events in the film are very scientifically sound, but for the sake of honesty one has to admit that several rare events occur here in a rather high concentration. But otherwise it would not be material for a film. ”When asked whether the glacier explosion hinted at in the film had already occurred, he replied:“ On Mont Blanc in 1892, the explosive eruption of a water pocket cost 200 people their lives. ”
background
As the production company pointed out, the events of the film are based on scientific evidence, adding that those who want to see it should not be hidden that our glaciers are melting. Comparisons between today's photographs of the Großvenediger in East Tyrol (where the film was shot) and images by landscape painters from earlier times would show that. The consequences are also already noticeable (and expensive): earth movements, mudslides, rivers that overflow their banks when the snowmelts, and higher protection costs against falling rocks. But in addition to the drama of the natural events, it is above all their effects on the very personal environment of the people who inspired Frank Dommel (idea) and Claudia Kaufmann (screenplay). In the course of events, the water pocket inside the glacier was given a clearly metaphorical character for the upheavals that had a latent effect in small-town society, in the family, in marriage, in everyone personally - and which would call for eruptions, disasters and cleanups.
reception
Audience ratings
When it was first broadcast, Gletscherblut was tuned into by 5.2 million viewers, which resulted in a market share of 14.9 percent; when it was repeated, the film reached 4.69 million viewers.
criticism
The critics of the television magazine TV Spielfilm said: Clever: As in 2007 in the alpine drama Avalanche , director Thomas Kronthaler combines classic scenarios from Heimatfilm with those from disaster cinema. Conclusion: Gletscherblut a “committed ecological sermon on the mount”. The film received the best possible rating by showing the thumbs up; One of three possible points was awarded for claim and action and two for tension.
Rainer Tittelbach rated the film on his website tittelbach.tv with 3.5 out of 6 possible stars. The critic said that the “plot” was “clichéd”, but that the “Alpine & Family Drama was strongly staged”. He explained: “This alpine and family drama is very roughly carved. The dramaturgically rough pace may correspond to the genre, but then one wonders what Lisa Martinek has lost in this mountain panorama. Whenever things get dramatic, she forgets her alpine dialect. Tim Bergmann, who does away with the cliché 'The Tyroleans are funny', seems a little out of place next to Thomas Unger and the convincing veterans Mitterrutzner and Halmer. 'Gletscherblut' is a banal ascent and descent, on which Arte was probably in the boat to finance the complex underwater recordings. After 60 minutes you almost wish for a catastrophe, so that there is at least something surprising. ”The“ opening images are also strong: pulsating water under ice, it drips, it builds up, it breaks ”. In one minute “the possible horror scenario of the following 85 minutes is summarized. It is a shame "that" the film does not keep its visual entrance promise dramaturgically.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung read: “A mountain film has never offered such a backdrop.” The Tagesspiegel wrote: “It is the short interpersonal moments that break Thomas Kronthaler's otherwise very solid, conservative staging and generate empathy for the characters . ”The television magazine Gong stated:“ Under the cloak of an eco-thriller, the classic mountain drama offers good entertainment. No false romance, but tangible generational conflicts and concern for nature determine the plot. ”For the television week, the film presented a“ rousing mix of relationship drama and eco-thriller in front of a grandiose backdrop ”.
On the page Kino.de it was said: “Against a spectacular alpine backdrop, 'Gletscherblut' takes up the explosive topic of climate change and shows a completely new perspective of this threat, but does not engage in any experiments in the dramaturgical implementation.” “Borderline experiences and extreme situations” would “Part of the standard repertoire of mountain films”, because “the genre” is “always a painful self-reflection of human existence”. The film makes use of “these dramatic motifs that show the struggle for life or death”, subordinates “the plot to the dramaturgy of the classic disaster film” and “carelessly sprinkles elements of the Heimatfilm”. “Spectacular” are “the dives in the glacier lake, which literally open up new perspectives”. But “a lot splashes between the characters in the story, runs in a predictable direction and even if the plot foams and splatters like a mountain stream melting snow, the viewer is rarely carried away ". From “Thomas Unger you wish to see yourself more on television, the strongest moments of the film are created from the interplay with a wonderfully authentic Peter Mitterrutzner. The main role of the glaciologist Carlo Bonatti is ambivalent and conflictual [...], but Tim Bergmann sometimes falls short of his possibilities ”.
In the NRZ , Angelika Wölke found that "the plot in the Arte film 'Gletscherblut' does not show any expertise". "Daring" is also the "mixture of triangular story, eco-thriller and postcard idyll". But you can "watch" the "Arte film" anyway. Even if “the plot sometimes splashes just as thinly as the glacier stream” - you can watch the TV film simply because of the “postcard idyll”.
The assessment by the film service was extremely brief and not very meaningful: “Conventional (television) mixture of alpine melodrama and eco-disaster film. - From 14. "
On the website evangelisch.de , the critic Tilmann P. Gangloff took on the film and said that this homeland film [is] not quite as kitsch as the title suggests. Presumably it is in the nature of the genre that they are "alien to self-irony". One moment in this story screams irony, namely that "when the glacier actually seemed to bleed, according to the title". “As expected”, the “Alpine panorama is overwhelming”, the “underwater pictures also imposing” and “Bergmann's dialect sound quite convincing, at least for ears outside Bavaria”. Finally, “Thomas Unger”, who “has rarely been cast in leading roles”, recommends himself “for higher tasks”.
Andre Mielke was also impressed by the magnificent Alpine backdrop on the Welt Print page . But that is "in the nature of things". There are also “pretty ideas, especially the decorative 'bleeding' glacier”. But “the plot” is “as barren and predictable for a long time as the vegetation at an altitude of 3000 meters”. The “biggest surprise” is “how we managed to win such high-profile actors for it: Tim Bergmann, who is constantly stealthily creeping through the picture, Günther Maria Halmer and Lisa Martinek, who was also dramatically under-challenged as a one-dimensional oatmeal, and who also had more grateful Rollev than that of the cunning chick ”.
Web links
- Glacier blood in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Glacier blood at crew united
- Gletscherblut press kit see page diefilmgmbh.de
- Gletscherblut full film on zdf.de (available until March 5, 2020)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Glacier blood at crew united
- ↑ a b Gletscherblut see page diefilmgmbh.de (PDF document).
- ^ A b Rainer Tittelbach : TV film "Gletscherblut". Unger, Bergmann, Martinek: Filmic ascent and descent with light and shadow see page tittelbach.tv . Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Glacier Blood". Goodbye to the world! This TV environmental drama with Tim Bergmann reveals what a Heimatfilm looks like in times of climate change . Cf. tvspielfilm.de (including 59 film images). Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ↑ Glacier blood see page diefilmgmbh.de. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ↑ Glacier blood see page kino.de (including photo series). Retrieved February 23, 2020.
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↑ Anbelika Wölke: Arte film "Glacier blood": Thrilling, but unscientific
In: Neue Ruhr Zeitung , September 25, 2009. Retrieved on February 23 2020th - ↑ Glacier blood . In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 23, 2020 .
- ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : TV tip of the day: "Gletscherblut" (ZDF) on the evangelisch.de page, December 7, 2009. Accessed on February 23, 2020.
- ↑ Andre Mielke: Alpine drama: "Gletscherblut" on Arte In: Die Welt, September 25, 2009. Accessed on February 23, 2020.