100 Porsches and me - DVD

Film: André Schäfer has a dream: he absolutely wants to call a green Porsche 911 from the early 1970s his own. And so he sets off in search of the model, which leads him to a total of 100 sometimes more, sometimes less crazy Porsche enthusiasts. Whether it's celebrities like US comedian Jerry Seinfeld, director Frank Darabont, and Finnish rally legend Rauno Aaltonnen, or ordinary citizens like hobby mechanic Benjamin Ziemer, pensioner Margit Rensch, or blind judge Thomas Drengenberg, they all share a passion that they celebrate in sometimes very different ways.

100 Porsches and me is less a documentary about the history of the sports car or of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the inventor of the legendary 911, who died in April 2012. It is true that here and there the history and the connection of Porsche with the National Socialism during the Second World War is discussed. But the film is primarily about the people who share a passion for cars. Even if this passion is expressed in very different ways, it is the high intensity of their passion that connects all these people. And this is then not only extremely entertaining for the viewer, but also contagious, even if you are not really interested in cars yourself.

The film witnesses an extraordinary cleaning contest, shows Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) showing actor Michael Chiklis (The Shield) his Porsche, which Chiklis comments on by saying he'd love to fuck that car, you witness the loving work Benjamin Zimmer puts into restoring his Porsche, or the enthusiasm with which Jerry Seinfeld shows off his incredible collection that fills an airplane hangar and its own parking garage in New York. And of course there's director André Schäfer, who always gets shiny eyes at the sight of the cars that are presented to him during his search for the grass-green Porsche 911, and beams like a little child when someone finally answers yes to his obligatory question of whether he can go for a spin.

Of course, one could accuse Schäfer of lacking a certain journalistic distance, which is usually expected in a documentary. But since it is not the historical background that is to be explored, but rather the myth and dreams associated with the car, it is perfectly fine that Schäfer has approached the subject with a detachment-free enthusiasm. The fact that the film isn't really profound, but primarily entertaining and amusing, doesn't diminish the entertainment value in the slightest. For this there is - especially, but not exclusively for Porsche enthusiasts - a deserved: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press sample was available for the test, no information can be given about the final picture and sound quality of the DVD at this point.

Extras: Bonus material has the DVD not to offer.

F Conclusion: 100 Porsches and me is an amusing documentary, which is full of passion for the subject of Porsche and is therefore primarily aimed at lovers of the legendary sports car. But also viewers who are not (yet) infected by the Porsche fever will be well entertained here. The documentary may not have any particular depth, as it is less a journey through the history of the car and its inventor and more a portrait of colorful characters and their shared passion. But it is worth seeing, which is why this DVD can be recommended to lovers of entertaining documentaries

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp