Die Rückkehr der Zeitmaschine

In 1983, some of the best German actors got together in the TV movie "Die Rückkehr der Zeitmaschine" (The Time Machine Returns) which is a film by Günter Kunert, was produced by Ulrich Nagel and directed by Jürgen Klauss.

Klaus Schwarzkopf, Peter Pasetti, Siegfried Wischnewski, Frank Hoffmann and others take us back to Berlin, 1925: An internist discovers the legendary Time Machine in an antique dealer's shop and immediately buys it. Together with his friends - a politician, an engineer and a psychiatrist - he thinks carefully about what to do with his acquisition. But even that could not preserve them from momentous mistakes which will get them an insight into a mysterious, frightening future.

The reason why this piece is so uncommon is the fact that almost the whole film takes place in the internist's elegant villa or rather the living room where the four friends have rich conversations. Humorous wine circles and serious disputes about completely different world views feature some of the greatest dialogs I ever heard in a film. The camera-work conveys the viewer that he always is right there with them in that old villa in Berlin.

In short, the story and atmosphere of that artistic film is impressive. Unfortunately, it is not available either on VHS or DVD and it also seems German TV has completely forgotten that little masterpiece in the past 15 years. Let's hope the Time Machine returns again in near future - to the screen, or even better, on a DVD! Andreas Bergmann.