Duell der Brüder (2016)

Duell der Brüder: Die Geschichte von Adidas und Puma is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on German television (RTL) in 2016. Here is some basic information about it:

** English title: The Duel of the Brothers: The History of Adidas and Puma

** Directed by Oliver Dommenget

** Written by Christian Schnalke

** Historical consultants: Stefan Lamby and Gregor Schöllgen

** Language: German – no English subtitles!

** Released on DVD in 2016

** Run time: 116 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Ken Duken as Adolf “Adi” Dassler (1900-1978)

** Picco von Groote as Käthe Dassler – Adi’s wife

** Torben Liebrecht as Rudolf “Rudi” Dassler (1898-1974) (nickname: Puma)

** Nadja Becker as Friedl Dassler – Rudi’s wife

** David C. Bunners as Josef Waitzer (1884-1966) – a German Olympic athlete and later the German minister for sports

** Kamghe Gaba as Jesse Owens (1913-1980) – an American athlete who won four gold medals during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin

I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. Therefore I am not going to reveal too much about what happens in this movie. Since the movie is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record.

The story begins in 1924 in the small German town of Herzogenaurach, when two brothers - Adi and Rudi - co-found a company in order to produce and sell a new kind of shoes: shoes for jumping and running as well as football boots. The sports shoes are known by the family name: Dassler.

The two brothers complement each other very well: Adi is the designer and creator, while Rudi is the salesman who knows how to sell a new product. Both brothers are married: Adi is married to Käthe, while Rudi is married to Friedl.

The story ends in 1954 in Bern, Switzerland, when the West German team beats the Hungarian team and wins the World Cup in football. The West German players are wearing football boots from Adidas.

In between we learn how the factory becomes a success, but we also learn about the growing friction between the two brothers. Things are not made easier when Hitler and the Nazi Party take over the German government in 1933 or when World War Two begins in 1939.

Both Adi and Rudi survive the war, but three years after the end of the war (in 1948) the problems between the brothers lead to a break-up of the company. Adi starts his own company Adidas, while Rudi starts his own company Puma. Both companies are in the same small town, but they do not work together in any way.

What do reviewers say about this movie? On IMDb it has a rating of 66 per cent, which corresponds to 3.3 stars on Amazon. On the German version of Amazon, there are at the moment more than 60 reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.4 stars.

If you ask me, the former rating (IMDb) is too low, while the latter rating (Amazon Germany) is too high. This is a good movie about a great story. While it is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. Not everything happened exactly as portrayed in this movie.

Some historical facts have been changed. In addition, some elements (in particular regarding the private lives of the main characters) have been added in order to make the story more dramatic. Here are a few examples:

# 1. In the movie, Josef Waitzer, the German minister for sports, meets the brothers in 1934, about one year after the Nazi Party has taken over the government. In the real world, he met them in 1930, three years before Hitler came to power. For some reason, the chronology has been changed. I do not see any good reason for this change.

# 2. Sometimes, the language is too modern. When Adi meets his future wife Käthe and when Rudi meets his future wife Friedl, they all address each other with the informal word “du.” This is not very realistic. In the 1920s they would probably have used the formal word “Sie.”

# 3. Sometimes the story is moving too fast:

** Scene one: Rudi sees Friedl at the railway station

** Scene two: Friedl is sitting next to Rudi in his sports car; they are kissing

** Scene three: they are getting married

Something similar takes place with Adi and Käthe:

** Scene one: he meets her while he is swimming in a lake

** Scene two: they are getting married

Duell der Brüder is a captivating, dramatic and emotional movie. In addition, it is based on a true story. I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws, which cannot be ignored. I have to remove one star because of them. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars.

PS # 1. Please note: the dialogue is German and there are no English subtitles on the DVD. It is a shame. It cannot cost much to add optional English subtitles. If the production company had done this, the DVD would be able to sell quite well in the English-speaking world. As it is now, sales outside the German-speaking world (Germany and Austria) will be limited to people who understand German. There are not many of them. But it is a good movie, and if you understand German, it may be something for you. The German language spoken here is clear. There are no strange accents.

PS # 2. On two occasions the dialogue is in English. The first occasion is in 1936 when we see the American athlete Jesse Owens. The second occasion in in 1945 when American soldiers arrive at Herzogenaurach and occupy the town. On these occasions the English dialogue is covered by German subtitles.

PS # 3. The bonus features on the DVD are divided into eight short sections: the event movie, the brothers, the male characters, the female characters, the director, the shoe, visual effects, and cinematography. The total running time for the bonus features is 24 minutes.

PS # 4. For more information, see the following book: Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud that Forever Changed the Business of Sports by Barbara Smit (2009).

PS # 5. The following reviews are available online:

** Klaus Braeuer, “Historiendrama,” Die Welt, 21 March 2016

** Uwe Ritzer, “RTL-Film: Adidas gegen Puma,” Süddeutsche Zeitung, 24 March 2016

** Axel Wolfsgruber, “TV-Kolumne,” Focus Online, 25 March 2016

** Bernhard Panzer, “RTL-Film über Adidas und Puma,” In Franken.de, 25 March 2016

PS # 6. Die Dasslers (a miniseries in two parts) premiered on German television (ARD) in 2016 and was released on DVD in 2017.

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