MovieChat Forums > Der Rote Baron (2008) Discussion > Romance-plot line 'lifted' from Shaara-...

Romance-plot line 'lifted' from Shaara-novel?

posted 16 years ago by ovbismarck
4 replies | jump to latest

After reading about the (in my eyes as a Richthofen 'purist') ridiculous romance-plot line that has Rittmeister von Richthofen fall for his nurse Kaethe Otersdorf, I couldn't help but wonder if director Mullerschoen has copied this set-up straight from Jeff Shaara's WWI-novel "To the Last Man".

In this work, Shaara as a third person omniscient narrator dedicates a large portion of the book to a fictional account of von Richthofen's career as a pilot.
Here, von Richthofen becomes clearly infatuated with nurse Otersdorf (in response to timid signals from her that she feels the same way about him) while recuperating from his head wound.
He ultimately does not further pursue her after his comrade Wolff asks him whether or not he would be willing to make her a widow, regarding that he, in all likelyhood, will not live to see the end of the war.

While Shaara stays true to the known facts (von Richthofen was not known to have ever pursued any women during the war) by never letting any 'outsiders' take notice of their relationship, he plays out the growing feelings between the two in great detail, regarding the relatively short part the hospital scene takes up in the general Richthofen storyline.

He even includes a snippet of conversation where the Rittmeister wants to take the nurse flying with him some time, to which she agrees. Richthofen of course ends up never doing so and the relationship does not proceed further than a few glaces and a kiss on the cheek from the nurse, because nothing ever happened between them in reality.

Now, as far as I know, the very scene (Richthofen taking his nurse for a flight) will be depicted in the movie.

I freely admit that I generally hold a moderate grudge against this movie (without even having seen it myself yet) because of the romance-aspect in general and the subsequent defamation of the whole character of von Richthofen (turning him into an anti-war hero who questions his patriotism).

But if overly-ambitious Niki Muellerschon went so far as simply ripping the love-story idea from Shaara's novel and only fleshed it out a bit to make it the catalyst for some change-of-attitude in von Richthofen, so that he may be "reconstructed", this would actually further my disgust with the approach he took on the life of this hero tenfold.

So, if anyone here has read "To the Last Man" and actually seen the movie, comments and thoughts would be very much appreciated.

If you have only seen the movie, you can read the relevant part of the book if you search for "Kate" via the "Search Inside" option Amazon offers for the book. It's a five minute read maximum.

Cheers!

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Horace

[–] IrvingZ 16 years ago

You might be right. But I think it is more likely that Müllerschön copied that part from "Pearl Harbour". Keep in mind that he initially talked about "Pearl Harbour" and "Titanic" as the sort of movies he prefered ("pocorn cinema" in MS`s words) in contrast to "boring documentaries" like "Downfall"...

As far as I know there was one scene where the pilot takes a nurse for a ride in Pearl Harbour.

When I read Müllerschön`s first interviews about a year ago, I immediately knew that this movie is bound to become crap. And I think that this movie will have a hard time to get into the American market (the movie was designed for the oversea market, but even Austria would be one step enough).

Once, I have read that MS saw a Red Baron pizza in the US, where he has been living for quite a while, and somebody must have told him that the Red Baron was a German WW I hero. He stated that he hadn`t heard of him before (oh dear). But he must have thought, well, if this guy is so famous, I could cash in with a movie about his life.

I had to spit at every word I read in those interviews. And this trailer and the reaction from people who were at the test screening in London, prove my reservations.

[–] ovbismarck 16 years ago

Good grief- Pearl Harbor didn't even cross my mind, but you're absolutely right!That movie was so typically Bay/Bruckheimer, that I tend not to thing about it too much.

Well- seemingly this is what happens when you let a "Werbefilmer" like Müllerschön get his hands on a project like Richthofen-movie, and provide him with the money to actually pull it off.

I fully agree about your comment about your personal reception of these interviews. Aparently I underestimated Müllerschöns dedication to large-scale entertainment movies. He stirkes me as one of those Germans you sometimes encounter in the US, who fancy themselves to be "Americans", yet stick out like a sore thumb because they are just pretending- or even worse, trying too hard.

As an avid German Military History-buff, I have been closely following the coverage of the project as well.
From the bits and pieces (pictures, trailer, principal-photography diary etc.)I was able to see that so far, the planes are the only thing that comes pretty close to what the Imperial Army Air Service actually used during the time the movie takes place.

Many other things are blatantly wrong- the laguage and decorum is awkward and plain ridiculous in the trailer alone, and a personal favorite of mine isLothar von Richthofen aparently having been a member of the 4th Dragoons 'Bredow', but instead of his FATHERS regiment- at least he's wearing dad's uniform throughout the film.

I generally have a very bad feeling about this movie- its shrewd attempt to "justify" von Richthofen and his military service will subconciously imply that we were the "baddies" in the Great War as well. Even the folks at my University in northern ENGLAND have moved on from that perspective.

It just makes me furious that in a completely unnessecary attempt to clear the name of Rittmeister von Richthofen (or rather justify to make a movie about him), some guy who did a couple of commercials and a "Schulmädchenreport" will very likely make the entire world laugh at us (once more).

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Horace

[–] IrvingZ 16 years ago

"He stirkes me as one of those Germans you sometimes encounter in the US, who fancy themselves to be "Americans", yet stick out like a sore thumb because they are just pretending- or even worse, trying too hard."

I agree. One could also compare his willingness to copy Hollywood to Mexican food in Poland. I have visited several Mexican restaurants in Krakow, and what you get there is usually not Mexican food, but what a Polish cook after the fall of communism might have thought Mexican food should look and taste like.

It seems to me as if he had watched Pearl Harbour and taken out all the elements that made this movie successful. But what he probably hasn`t understood is that "Pearl Harbour" worked extremely well at the box offices because of 09/11 and patriotism. He simply exchanged patriotism with 68-dogmas. Noone in America will be interested to watch that. The only potential viewers will be those who expect something like "Downfall" - realism - and they will be heavily disappointed.

"As an avid German Military History-buff, I have been closely following the coverage of the project as well."

I am more of a history buff in general with a clear focus upon German and Polish history. But that also includes military history to some degree.

"I generally have a very bad feeling about this movie- its shrewd attempt to "justify" von Richthofen and his military service will subconciously imply that we were the "baddies" in the Great War as well. Even the folks at my University in northern ENGLAND have moved on from that perspective."

I agree. The funny thing is, apparently MS found out that one of the pilots was Jewish. And apparently he overdramatizes his role and according to one test screening review he even thanked the Jews for their contribution to WWI (maybe they have edited that for the final version). There might be some Jews out there who will feel offended to see a flick in which ordinary Germans are doubtful about the war, while Jewish Germans are overly patriotic. Just a thought, but MS was clearly trying too hard...

"It just makes me furious that in a completely unnessecary attempt to clear the name of Rittmeister von Richthofen (or rather justify to make a movie about him), some guy who did a couple of commercials and a "Schulmädchenreport" will very likely make the entire world laugh at us (once more). "

Schulmädchenreport had at least some sort of trash quality, if you know what I mean. "Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten".
But never mind. I would be surprised if this movie crosses too many borders. There is at least some sort of quality controll in foreign markets.

[–] teacher_tom516 15 years ago

Oh great... I was really hoping for this one to be one of those good old style war movies, but apparently it's as rotten as Pearl Harbour. I'll probably see it once to confirm my suspicions and then... to the dustbin of Hollywood history.

"It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons."
- Pierre Rissient