Das Sacher (2016)

Das Sacher: In bester Gesellschaft – a mini-series in two parts – is an Austrian-German historical drama which premiered on Austrian and German television in 2016. 

 

It is based on a true story: the history of the Sacher hotel in Vienna. 

 

The English title is The Sacher: A Tale of Doom and Seduction.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced by Oliver Auspitz, Oliver Berben, Sarah Kirkegaard, and Andreas Kamm
** Directed by Robert Dornheim
** Written by Rodica Döhnert
** Musical score composed by Roman Kariolou
** Language: German – no English subtitles!
** Released on DVD in 2017

** Part one: 97 minutes

** Part two: 102 minutes 

** Total run time: 199 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Ursula Strauss as Anna Sacher (born Fuchs)
** Florian Stetter as Maximilian Aderhold
** Julia Koschitz as Martha Aderhold
** Laurence Rupp as Hans-Georg von Traunstein
** Josefine Preuss as Konstanze von Traunstein

** Robert Stadtlober as Fritz Lechner – a police detective
** Jasna Fritzi Bauer as Marie Stadler
** Robert Palfrader as Mayr – a hotel receptionist
** Bernhard Schir as Julius Schuster 

The Sacher Hotel was founded in 1876 by Eduard Sacher, whose father Franz Sacher had invented the Sacher Torte (the Sacher Cake) in 1832. In 1880 he married Anna Fuchs who became Anna Sacher. Eduard was the owner and the manager of the hotel. He was the front man. Anna worked in the background where she played an important role.

When Eduard died suddenly in 1892, many people expected that the hotel would be sold off, but Anna did not agree with this idea. She wanted to be the next manager of the hotel. At the time such an idea was unheard of: a woman could not be a manager. A woman could not run a business.

But Anna had friends in high places. She contacted them and asked them to help her, which they did. After three years, Anna was able to secure the concession to run the Sacher Hotel in her own name. Under her management, the Sacher Hotel became the most famous hotel in Vienna, and one of the most famous hotels in Austria.

As stated above, this drama is divided into two parts. Part one covers six years: 1892-1898, i.e. the time from Eduard’s death to the assassination of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, who was known to the world as “Sissi.” Part two covers twenty tears: 1898-1918, i.e. the time from Sissi’s death to the end of World War One.

When we see the title Das Sacher, we think that this drama is about the famous hotel in Vienna. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is the story of two couples – four fictional characters – who meet each other in the hotel, but most of their lives take place in other locations: the Aderhold couple, who plan to open a publishing house, live in Germany (Berlin), while the von Traunstein couple live on a large estate in Hungary.

Anna Sacher, who is a real historical person, appears in the movie, but she only plays a secondary role. The history of Anna and her hotel is merely an excuse for telling us the story of the two couples.

Taken by itself, the story of the two couples is quite good; a fictional story that is placed in a historical context. In this case the context is the double monarchy of Austria and Hungary before and after the year 1900. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The costumes are convincing and the cinematography is excellent.

The only problem is the title of the drama, Das Sacher. The title is quite misleading. Because Anna Sacher is a secondary character and her hotel is merely used as a setting for the story of the four fictional characters.

What do reviewers say about this drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 63 per cent, which corresponds to three stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this average rating is a bit too harsh.

On the German version of Amazon there are fifteen reviews of this product. The average rating is only 2.6 stars. Most negative reviews complain about the title. They say it is misleading. They say it is a shame this drama does not offer what the title seems to promise. While I have to agree with them, I still think their verdict is too harsh.

As a period piece about life in the double monarchy of Austria and Hungary before and after the year 1900 this drama is quite good. I only wish that the people behind the drama had chosen another - more appropriate - title for their product. I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but I have to remove one star, because of the misleading title. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars.

PS # 1. Die Königin von Wien – Anna Sacher und ihr Hotel is a documentary film by Beate Thalberg that was shown on German television (ZDF) in January 2017. This film, which runs for 43 minutes, is available online. It is a good biography of Anna Sacher and her famous hotel.

PS # 2. Robert Dornheim is the director of several television movies, including the English-language movie Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story from 2004.

PS # 3. Rodica Döhnert, Oliver Berben, and Josefine Preuss worked together on a similar project a few years ago: 

 

Das Adlon – Eine Familiensaga (2013)

 

This project – a mini-series in three parts – is true to its title: it covers the history of the famous hotel in Berlin. It is a shame they could not do the same for the Sacher hotel in Vienna.

PS # 4. The following book is available in German: Anna Sacher und ihr Hotel: Im Wien der Jahrhundertwende by Monika Czernin (hardcover 2014, paperback 2016).

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 Anna Sacher (1859-1930) and her dogs

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The Sacher Hotel in Vienna

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