Die Zwei vom Südexpress: A Train Ride You Might Want to Skip

Is it worth your time?

Honestly? Maybe not, unless you’re deep into the German archives of the thirties. It’s for the folks who love seeing early talkies stumble through their own plots. If you need a story that actually makes sense from start to finish, you’re going to hate this. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s very much a product of its own frantic era.

The whole thing centers on the "Südexpress," which sounds fancy but mostly just serves as a backdrop for people running around in hats. It reminded me a bit of the aimless energy in Die lustigen Weiber von Wien, though with way less charm and a lot more shouting.

The Good, The Bad, and The Confusing

There’s a moment in the second act where two characters are arguing about a bag, and the camera just stays on their feet for way too long. It’s bizarre. It feels like the director just forgot to yell cut. I kind of loved it.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Die Zwei vom Südexpress (1932) through its definitive frames.

Therese Giehse is in this, and she’s doing the heavy lifting while everyone else seems to be sleepwalking. She’s got this sharp, cynical edge that cuts through the fluff, even when the scene around her makes zero sense. The rest of the cast? They’re just kind of... there. Posing. Looking worried at doors.

• The train scenes look like they were filmed in someone's basement with a fan blowing.
• The dialogue sounds like it was written on the back of a train ticket five minutes before shooting.
• Otto Wernicke looks like he’d rather be literally anywhere else.

It’s not as polished as Die verschwundene Frau, which at least had a clear path to follow. Here, the plot feels like it’s made of wet paper. It just dissolves the second you apply any real pressure to it. 🚂

Still, there’s something oddly endearing about how hard they’re trying. You can see the gears grinding. You can feel the sweat on the lens. It’s not a good movie by any standard definition, but it’s a *real* one. And sometimes that’s enough to keep you watching until the credits roll, mostly just to see how they try to wrap up the chaos.