Erskine Childers's novel "The Riddle of the Sands", published in 1903, is a spy story set in Germany at the time of the "Kaiserreich". Due to the nature of the book, a long-winding and detailed novel about two men sailing in the Wadden Sea, a film showing two people doing just that would be slightly boring, but very true to the book. The German television series that was the longer version of this film does that very well, the film version tends to be reduced to highlights and therefore fails. (A BBC version starring Michael York leaves out the entire first part of the novel, by the way.) This is partly due to the casting, which combines well-known German actors (Peter Sattmann and Burkhard Klaußner - the latter appeared in "Goodbye Lenin") with Isabel Varrell, the singer of the title song, but not a convincing actress. What the film achieves, though, is to transport a feeling of the very unusual setting: Germany's North Sea coast and the Wadden Sea between the mainland and the islands. All in all, the film ultimately doesn't deliver the goods as the novel does, but is still worthwhile.
