Among die-hard film lovers, Sam Fuller is like a god. This is especially true of those in the French New Wave film movement....who absolutely adored the man and his films. Much of it is because of the economy of his productions--with relatively low budgets and tough scripts. So, I was not surprised when I saw a review on IMDB that gave this movie a 10...and another one that absolutely hated it in every way. For those who love the man's work, he could do no wrong. As for me, I have enjoyed quite a few of his movies but am not a card carrying member of the Fuller cult...which is why I am saying I found this strange German concoction to be almost unwatchable. And, because of this, I am shocked that it's been carried on Netflix here in the States.
The back story to "Tote Taube in der Beethovenstrasse" is unusual. There apparently was a German television show, "Tatort", and the folks responsible for it were able to get Fuller to write and direct an episode. It's more a stand alone episode...and also more like a movie, clocking in at over 100 minutes. Now here's the strange part....the American star (Glenn Corbett) speaks all his lines in English and most of the rest of the actors, who are German, do theirs in German! I assume they either dubbed or subbed the show...but, strangely, the captions on the DVD are poor and much of what the German actors say is untranslated on the screen and Corbett's character often explains (awkwardly) what they were saying in his responses! It's a mess...and I have no idea how well it went over in Germany but I strongly suspect most Netflix viewers wouldn't leave the film on for more than about 10 minutes.
So, what did I like about the film? In the opening credits, you see not only the actors but technicians with their names and faces on the screen....a nice way to show how much they were all appreciated and how they all contributed to making this production. Other than that....well, I didn't like much.
The back story to "Tote Taube in der Beethovenstrasse" is unusual. There apparently was a German television show, "Tatort", and the folks responsible for it were able to get Fuller to write and direct an episode. It's more a stand alone episode...and also more like a movie, clocking in at over 100 minutes. Now here's the strange part....the American star (Glenn Corbett) speaks all his lines in English and most of the rest of the actors, who are German, do theirs in German! I assume they either dubbed or subbed the show...but, strangely, the captions on the DVD are poor and much of what the German actors say is untranslated on the screen and Corbett's character often explains (awkwardly) what they were saying in his responses! It's a mess...and I have no idea how well it went over in Germany but I strongly suspect most Netflix viewers wouldn't leave the film on for more than about 10 minutes.
So, what did I like about the film? In the opening credits, you see not only the actors but technicians with their names and faces on the screen....a nice way to show how much they were all appreciated and how they all contributed to making this production. Other than that....well, I didn't like much.