Wader Alarm Clock Father Country - DVD

Film: When you think of German singer-songwriters, you automatically think of Hannes Wader and Konstantin Wecker. As different as the two artists may be as personalities, they are united by their political commitment, their socially critical influence and their sometimes very eventful lives. For a long time, fans could only dream of a joint tour by the two songwriters. But in 2000/2001 this dream came true for the first time, which was finally recorded on the live album Was für eine Nacht. Almost ten years later, the two musicians went on tour together again, true to the motto: No end in sight. On this tour, filmmaker Rudi Gaul was allowed to accompany them, and the two not only allowed him almost unrestricted access behind the scenes, but also into their personal world of thought.

Thus, Wader Wecker Vater Land works on several levels at once. On the one hand, the documentary is an entertaining insight into the everyday touring life of this very special live project. On the other hand, the film is an interesting and entertaining portrait of two exceptional musicians, which sometimes comes across as very intimate and open. When Hannes Wader admits, for example, how reluctant he actually is to sing other people's material or how he dealt with the hostility he faced when he joined the German Communist Party in 1977. Wader reflects very openly on his life, his work, his artistic as well as his private career.

Wecker also gives himself surprisingly open in the interviews, especially concerning his drug problems and his arrest in November 1995 for drug possession. But the documentary is primarily about the music. Excerpts from their joint tour are repeatedly juxtaposed with archive footage. On the one hand, this makes it clear how topical some of the two musicians' early songs still are after all these years. On the other hand, the pictures of the enthusiastically singing along audience reveal that both songwriters can now count on a generation-spanning fan base. When young and old sing along rapturously with every word, then it becomes clear what effect Hannes Wader and Konstantin Wecker still have on the stage even after well over thirty years.

Wader Wecker Vater Land is not only recommended to fans, however. Because Rudi Gaul has simply succeeded in making a really good film, which is extremely entertaining and makes you want to rediscover or rediscover the work of the two artists. And therefore: not only as a music documentary, but also as an artist portrait and incidentally also as a look at the political history of Germany in the last forty years absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the DVD is on a good level for documentaries. Admittedly, there are some obvious weaknesses in the image sharpness or even some minor soiling in the archive footage. The current interview or concert sequences, on the other hand, are presented very cleanly, the image sharpness here is also at a good level and the colouring is also respectable. The stereo sound is of course mainly determined by the dialogues, but now and then the music tracks provide a little more sonority. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, there is a featurette of about 20 minutes about the first rehearsals for the tour. A nice and worth seeing addition to the documentary!

Conclusion: Wader Wecker Vater Land is an entertaining, surprisingly open and sometimes very intimate documentary, which not only reveals a good insight into a great tour project, but also works well as a portrait of two important songwriters. On the DVD, the film presents itself in good technical quality, the 20-minute bonus material complements the documentary perfectly. Absolutely recommendable not only for fans of Hannes Wader and/or Konstantin Wecker!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp