Dream Factory - Blu-ray

Film: In 1961, former NVA soldier Emil (Dennis Mojen) takes a job as an extra at DEFA Filmstudio Babelsberg. But on his very first day he causes so much chaos that he is fired by the general director (Heiner Lauterbach). But Emil has not only lost his job, but also his heart, to Milou (Emilia Schüle), the dance double of the French star actress Beatrice Morée (Ellenie Salvo González). There is a huge spark between the two. But it is not to come to a reunion, because suddenly the country is divided and the construction of the Berlin Wall begins. Milou travels back to Paris, while Emil is stuck in East Berlin. But then he has an idea: if he succeeds in luring Beatrice Morée back to Babelsberg, then Milou will come along too. But that would first require making a very special film, one that the star from France can't say no to.

Told with the now almost typical Titanic staple - an old man tells of his great love - Dream Factory doesn't exactly make use of fewer clichés. But director Martin Schreier does so with such charm and palpable love of cinema that one is only too happy to forgive him for it. On the contrary, it's precisely because Schreier isn't afraid to be downright kitschy that his film works so well as a homage to the great love stories of cinema history. Admittedly, at times it is a bit too much of a good thing. For example, Beatrice Morée is an overdrawn cliché Frenchwoman, as you see in German films all too often.

With Dennis Mojen and Emilia Schüle, on the other hand, a real dream couple was hired. The chemistry between the two is just right and when they throw longing looks at each other, then you can not wait until they (hopefully) get their happy ending. But Dream Factory isn't just a really nice romance with a high smut factor. The film also works very well as a love letter to cinema. Schreier was inspired to use the Babelsberg film studio as the setting by the recently deceased film producer Tom Zickler, who also worked on the story. Zickler's stories about working at the legendary film studio fascinated the director so much that he was determined to make a film out of it. And a love story seemed like just the right material for it.

Although the result unfortunately underwhelmed a bit at the box office, that says nothing about the quality of the film. Dream Factory has become exactly what the flick wants to be: a movie full of heart, big feelings, humor and drama. Really nice entertainment for a relaxing home cinema evening for two. Therefore, for all hopeless romantics clearly applies: absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The powerful colors capture the atmosphere of the story very well and let in conjunction with the high overall sharpness also the detail-rich equipment very well come into its own. The audio is in a powerful DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that adequately conveys some surround effects out of the speakers along with the nice score and dialogue. Good!

Extras: The extras on the Blu-ray primarily offer typical promo material. But at least there are also 14 cut or extended scenes (approx. 27:40 min.), which have a few really worth seeing moments to offer. There are also six interviews with the cast (approx. 16:57 min.), an interview with the director (approx. 5:08 min.), and a brief conversation with the late producer Tom Zickler (approx. 3:38 min.). Two promo featurettes about Studio Babelsberg (approx. 2:13 min.) and about the stars in the film (approx. 1:52 min.), along with the trailer and a clip from the premiere in Berlin, round off the additional offerings.

Conclusion: Hach, how beautiful! Dream Factory is not only a love letter to the time of the very big cinema, but also a really charming romance, which should at least go to the heart of viewers who do not mind some cheesy clichés. Convincingly played by a very likeable on-screen couple and directed with a lot of heart. On Blu-ray, the love story comes to home theaters in good picture and sound quality, and also comes with a few nice extras, where especially the cut scenes are worth watching. All in all, there is for this disc quite clearly a: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp