Carl & Bertha (2011)

Carl & Bertha is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on German television (ARD) in 2011.

Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced by Michael Souvignier

** Directed by Till Endemann

** Written by Stefan Rogall

** Language: German – no English subtitles!

** Released on DVD in 2011

** Run time: 90 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Felicitas Woll as Bertha Benz (1849-1944)

** Ken Duken as Carl Benz (1844-1929)

** Hans Jürgen Hürrig as Friedrich Ringer – Bertha’s father

** Michou Friesz as Auguste Ringer – Bertha’s mother

** Olli Dittrich as Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900)

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. I could tell you a lot about that happens here, but I am not going to do that. I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone.

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here.

Some details may have been added, altered or excluded for practical purposes or dramatic reasons. But the basic story is true.

This is the story of Carl and Bertha Benz. Carl is the man, who invented and built the first practical motorcar in the world. Bertha is the woman, who supported his dream and who kept pushing him forward when he was tired and when he was ready to give up.

In this drama, we follow Carl and Bertha from they meet each other around 1870 until 1888 when Bertha makes her famous road trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim.

In one day, she and her two boys managed to cover a distance of more than 100 km in the motorcar which her husband had invented and built.

What do reviewers say about this drama?

On IMDb it has a rating of 66 per cent, which corresponds to 3.3 stars on Amazon.

On Amazon Germany there are at the moment more than 90 ratings of this product, 30 with reviews.

The average rating is 4.5 stars which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.

If you ask me, the rating on IMDb is too low, while the rating on Amazon Germany is a bit too high.

It is a great idea to make a movie about Carl Benz, his wife Bertha, and their joint struggle to build the first practical motorcar.

This drama is good, but not a great.

There are some flaws.

Let me explain:

# 1. The time frame is too short. The story ends in 1888. This is a shame. There is more to say about the Benz family and the cars that they produced.

The movie could and should have continued for another thirty minutes. In this way the movie-makers could have carried the story into the beginning of the 20th century.

# 2. There is too much focus on the people and not enough focus on the technical and mechanical aspects of the story.

We see Carl making some drawings and we see him making some metal instruments, but we never learn how his engine actually works.

I understand the movie-makers do not want to turn this drama into a handbook for engineers, but since the topic of this drama is the first practical motorcar in the world, I think there should be some basic information about the technical and mechanical aspects of the car.

# 3. In the drama, Benz knows about the German inventor Gottlieb Daimler.

This is true.

In the drama, they meet and talk to each other at an exhibition of early motorcars.

This is not true.

Benz and Daimler never met and never talked to each other, even though they both lived and worked in Germany at the same time.

In 1926, their companies were merged into the Daimler-Benz company. By that time, Benz was still alive, but Daimler had been dead for more than twenty years.

I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top. As you can see, it has some flaws, which cannot be ignored. I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This is why I think this product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

PS # 1. Carl and Bertha were married in 1872.

They had five children:

** Eugen (1873)

** Richard (1874)

** Clara (1877)

** Thilde (1882)

** Ellen (1890)

PS # 2. The first Benz Motorcar was completed in 1885. Carl received a patent for this car in 1886. Bertha and her two boys Eugen and Richard completed the 106 km drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888.

It is known and remembered as the first road trip by motorcar in the world.

PS # 3. For more information about the topic, see the following items (in English and in German):

The Invention of the Automobile:

Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler

by St. John C. Nixon

(First published 1936)

(Reprinted 2016)

The History of the Automobile and its Inventors

by Lymann Weeks

(2010)

The Life of the Automobile:

The Complete History of the Motor Car

by Steven Parissien

(2014)

Lebensfahrt eines deutschen Erfinders:

Meine Erinnerungen

by Carl Benz

(First published 1925)

(Reprinted 2013)

(An autobiography)

Mein Traum ist länger als die Nacht:

Wie Bertha Benz ihren Mann zu Weltruhm fuhr

by Angela Elis

(2010)

PS # 4. How to spell the first name of the famous German inventor? Sometimes it is spelled with a C and sometimes it is spelled with a K.

In this drama, the first name is spelled with the letter C. For details about this issue, see the biography of Carl Benz on the German version of Wikipedia.

*****