The Door - DVD

Film: It's a real nightmare. While artist David (Mads Mikkelsen) is having fun with his neighbor Gia (Heike Makatsch), his daughter Leonie (Valeria Eisenbart) falls into the pool and drowns. Five years after this unspeakable loss, David is only a shadow of his former self. His marriage to Maja (Jessica Schwarz) has fallen apart and the guilt robs David of any spark of will to live. But then something incredible happens: as the broken father wanders the area near the scene of the accident, he finds a mysterious passageway leading to a mysterious door that takes David five years back in time, just in time to save Leonie's life. But of course, this second chance doesn't come without a price - and it's a damn high one.

With "Die Tür", director Anno Saul ("Wo ist Fred?") has staged a gripping mystery drama based on the novel "Die Damalstür" by Akif Pirinçci. On the one hand, Saul and his screenwriter Jan Berger have kept to the basic framework of the novel, but have distanced themselves far enough from the literary text to give the adaptation its very own atmosphere and tension, which make this film absolutely worth seeing, despite minor weaknesses.

Even though "Die Tür" unfortunately went completely under in the cinema, it is definitely worth picking up the DVD. Alone the great performance of Mads Mikkelsen, which would have carried the film even without the convincing ensemble of good supporting actors like Jessica Schwarz or Thomas Thieme ("Das Leben der Anderen", "Der Untergang"), makes the mysterious events a real viewing pleasure. But the intriguing camerawork, the restrainedly atmospheric score and the good script also contribute to proving here that good mystery entertainment can also be staged in Germany.

Sure, not everyone will be happy with the big twist towards the end of the film - especially since no real explanation for the existence of the door is given, which could be a problem for many viewers if they want to enjoy simple entertainment that requires little thinking. In this respect, "The Door" is quite a challenge, because not only is one's imagination challenged, but also many viewers will ask themselves during and after the film: "What would I do if I could travel five years into the past - and what price would I be willing to pay for it?" Who really deserves such an opportunity for a second chance, and what happens when such a gift is treated lightly?

At times, "Die Tür" threatens to fail because of its own ambitions, but the bottom line is that Anno Saul has succeeded in creating an exciting, consistently well-acted drama that combines fantasy and reality in an original way and, despite a few lengths, manages to captivate until the end. If you are looking for German cinema of the original kind, you should definitely risk the step through "Die Tür"!

Image + Sound: It is particularly commendable that the German soundtrack is not only included with the post-synchronized sound of Mads Mikkelsen, but also with his original language track. Admittedly, Mikkelsen's German is a bit difficult to understand at times, but this soundtrack somehow comes across as more sympathetic and authentic. Overall, the technical realization of the film is on a good level. The sound is restrained, but atmospherically implemented, the picture presents itself in slightly alienated, but engaging color scheme and can score with a decent overall sharpness. Good!

Extras: The DVD has two audio commentaries to offer. The first has director Anno Saul together with Mads Mikkelsen recorded in English (optional German subtitles are available). This commentary is very likeable and worth listening to and offers some amusing moments as well as quite a bit of interesting information about the filming. The second commentary, which Saul does with his producer Ralph Schwingel, is a bit drier and offers similar information in many moments to what the first commentary already carries. Either way, both companion commentaries are interesting and worth listening to, making them a worthwhile extra.

In addition, the DVD has some not uninteresting interviews (approx. 23 min.), a few cut scenes (approx. 11 min.), which include an extended ending, a slightly too short but good making of (approx. 15 min.), an uncommented look behind the scenes (approx. 11 min.), as well as the trailer and four more film tips. Very good!

Conclusion: "The Door" is a suspenseful mystery thriller, which thanks to the great Mads Mikkelsen and the atmospheric production consoles over small weaknesses. The DVD presents itself technically on a good level and has a few good extras to offer, which makes the disc a recommended purchase. After all, there are far too rarely good mystery dramas from Germany!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp