The Husky Man - DVD

Film: Martin Eigentler has set himself a goal for his life: he just wants to be happy. However, this happiness does not bring him money, but working with huskies. On his husky ranch in Tyrol, Eigentler lives together with 24 huskies. At least five days a week he sleeps outside with the animals in their enclosure and has thus managed over time to build up a particularly close bond with the huskies. It is important to him not to anthropomorphize the animals. He is always aware that he is dealing with close relatives of the wild wolves, whose instincts should be respected at all costs. But being close to the animals and living with them makes Eigentler a happier person. And with that, he has found exactly what he wanted for his life.

In addition to the very mundane work on the ranch, Eigentler also trains day after day with his sled dogs for the multi-day Iron Sled Dog Men race, which has been held in the Nockberge National Park for sixteen years. The filmmakers Bernhard Eschenbach and Jonathan Martens accompanied Martin Eigentler and his huskies during the preparations for the race and during the 16th Iron Sled Dog Men and recorded the whole thing in the documentary The Husky Man. The result is a quite entertaining and also interesting film, which works well especially in the moments when the camera simply observes the interaction between Eigentler and his huskies.

Also the insight into the creation and development of the Iron Sled Dog Men, reported by organizer Bernhard Moritz, is very interesting. Unfortunately, with the start of the race the film loses itself too much in long, only partly exciting shots, through which the disadvantage of such a small crew, with which the filmmakers worked here, becomes clear. As positive as the effect is that the collaboration of Eigentler with the small film team creates a certain intimacy that probably could not have been achieved in such a way in a larger production, this has a negative effect on the filming of the actual race. Where a larger team can position cameramen in different places to capture the action from different angles, here the perspective always remains the same. It can happen that the sled is observed for a long time only from a distance, while the soundtrack is almost covered by the loud wind.

Since the documentary lasts only one hour, it is negative in the end that so much time is spent on the race and the whole thing was inflated with a few too long shots, rather than being more intense on the normal everyday life of the husky man is addressed. Nevertheless: who loves huskies and is interested in sled dog races, gets here enough interesting and worth seeing offered to make this documentary recommendable!

Picture + Sound: In the visual implementation, the exaggerated contrasts rather negatively noticeable, through which the image sometimes seems a little too bright. Also, some small blurs can be detected sporadically. Otherwise, the clean picture leaves quite a positive impression for a documentary. The sound comes across a bit tinny and overdriven in some interviews, and the tuning of music and ambient sounds in some scenes is only partially successful. Here it becomes clear again and again that this film was made with a very small crew and obviously a low budget. And from this point of view, the audiovisual realization is, on balance, just fine!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has, in addition to the trailer and other program tips, a worthwhile making of (about 17 min.) to offer, in which the filmmakers talk about the project and the difficulties of shooting. Good!

Conclusion: The Husky Man is a fairly entertaining documentary that could have delved a bit deeper into the actual day-to-day life of Martin Eigentler, rather than his focus on the Iron Sled Dog Men. While the event is not uninteresting, it causes Eigentler's work and life with the huskies to take a bit of a back seat, making the already rather short documentary seem a bit superficial in terms of content. Technically, the realization of the film is still on a good level and the bonus material pleases with an interesting making of, which shows well how the film was made with the simplest means and a small crew. For viewers who are interested in huskies and sled dog racing, despite minor weaknesses quite recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp