Gotthard (2016) User Reviews

Subject too specific with the approach given here

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 February 2017]

"Gotthard" is a Swiss production in the German language from 2016. It is a small screen release that actually consists of two films of approximately 90 minutes each. German film buffs will recognize the names Mehmet, Stein, Aleardi and Bäumer in the cast here. The title already gives away that the focus here is on the construction of the famous Gotthard tunnel way back in the 19th century, so this film was made roughly 140 years after when the action takes place. Costumes and sets of this period piece are somewhat fine I guess, but the action and plot never really entertained me at all. This also refers to the actors and performances that felt mostly forgettable. I certainly liked Stein for example much more in other projects in the past and this does not only have to do with her physicality. Not at all. I think they made a good decision in making this film a mix between the Gotthard construction and the fates of the people involved in the latter. At least in theory. But only there because I think that the individual scenes just aren't good enough and the love to detail also could have been much better. I certainly felt that the film dragged a bit on many occasions. There is also some really generic stuff in here. The romance/relationship struggles for example did not do anything for me at all and felt just included for the sake of it in my opinion. It's especially disappointing looking at how many people worked on the screenplay here. Too many cooks spoil the broth and I cannot even blame director Urs Egger for anything as he probably did a solid job overall. Eventually, this film was a big challenge because lets be honest the topic is not one too appealing or interesting basically to anybody except Swiss historians. They tried to make it more appealing by including subplots, but these just weren't good enough and the film felt like it was missing focus on many occasions. Maybe one film of between 90 and 105 minutes would have been a better choice. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down.