Der Schneider von Ulm (Edgar Reitz, 1979)

The Tailor from Ulm relates the true story of early German pioneer of heavier-than-air flight Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger, who spends decades trying to construct a working hang glider in the face of public ridicule, penury and the politics of the Napoleonic wars. The setting and factual background lend it a certain curio interest, but it suffers badly from an autism not uncommon in German filmmakers of the period such as Herzog and Fassbinder, leading to the protagonist garnering little audience empathy with his single-minded quest. You don't really care if he succeeds for all the attempts by the director to engage us in the magic of his vision with drawn-out flight sequences, and this is a criminal failing. Reitz later on when to make the acclaimed Heimat television series, by which time he'd learned to cover his obvious emotional disconnection somewhat better.

4/10