Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn" is the 105-minute sequel to "Tom Sawyer" (both Mark Twain adaptations), which came out a year earlier and was directed by Hermine Huntgeburth as well, one of Germany's most famous directors currently. The script, just like for the previous film is by Sascha Arango. The most notable thing about it is probably the cast. August Diehl, Henry Hübchen, Heike Makatsch, Jacky Ido, Hinnerk Schönemann, Milan Peschel, Kurt Krömer, Michael Gwisdek, Peter Lohmeyer... that's as good as it gets for a German film and there is really nobody from the German big name actors who has not been in a children's movie or a children's book adaptation in recent years. And the final outcome here is certainly worth a watch. The main antagonist being actually the protagonist's father is a nice change. Diehl gives a good performance and I certainly preferred him over Fürmann in the last movie. The whole question of fatherhood is indirectly one of the core elements of the movie with Jacky Ido's character being more of a father to Huck. However, there is one scene where Diehl's character saves his son from being shot, so he is not completely indifferent towards him either. There's some other villains and they bring mostly comic relief because they are simply so dim-witted. Henry Hübchen's constant "Good evening." towards the end was really funny I thought, especially the way he said it. It was repetitive, but it did not lose any of its humor, at least for me. Gwisdek's character says "Oh Boy" at one point, a reference to another film he made that year and for which he won a German Film Award.The lead character here is played by Leon Seidel and he is doing mostly fine here. I also found him the better child actor in "Tom Sawyer" already and the practice he got on Stromberg or other projects clearly shows here. The film puts quite some focus on the issue of slavery and racial segregation in the United States several centuries ago, so it is a small history lesson too. There are not really any intense scenes or just one or two, so the film is appropriate for children as well. That was one of my major criticisms for "Tom Sawyer". It was very violent from start to finish. All in all, I recommend this movie. The ending is very dramatic and maybe a bit too much for its own good with the gun wound, the dying scene, the crying, the survival part etc. The Mark Twain reference is nice, however. Recommended. Much better than its prequel.
albastra
I bought the DVD because Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were my favorite books growing up. I read them so many times, I almost know them by heart. So, full of expectations, I started to watch the movie. The actors are good, the atmosphere reminds me of the book - and there it ends. The plot is something else entirely - so loosely based on the marvelous novel it falls completely through. Fifteen minutes in the movie and it already goes off on a tangent, in an entirely different direction. Some characters are from the book, some aren't. Even the ones that are in the book have suddenly a different agenda. An incredibly bad movie in itself, an incoherent story where not even a sparkle from Mark Twain's genius shines through. Why, why would somebody think that he or she can rewrite one of the most wonderful stories of all times???
