Adele Sandrock Is A Force In The Fight With The Dragon

Is this worth the watch?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s German character acting or just really love watching someone tell corporate types to take a hike, you'll probably enjoy The Fight with the Dragon. If you need pacing that moves faster than a slow stroll through a cobblestone village, you will absolutely hate this.

Adele Sandrock basically eats the scenery here. She’s the Countess, and she’s got that look on her face like she’s been holding her breath for three hundred years of brewery history. It’s glorious.

The brewery is the real star

There’s something about the way they film the old vats and the heavy wood beams that makes you want a cold drink. It’s not flashy, just sturdy.

There's a scene about halfway through where she’s just staring down a competitor, and the silence is thick. It feels like it lasts for a full minute, just her eyes doing all the heavy lifting while the camera refuses to cut away. It’s a bit awkward, honestly, but in a way that feels intentional.

• The supporting cast is fine, but they mostly just exist to be yelled at by the Countess.
• The lighting has that weird, foggy quality you see in movies like The Woman and the Puppet.
• Sometimes the extras in the background look like they forgot they were supposed to be brewing beer and are just waiting for the lunch break to start.

Wait, why is that guy there?

There's this one character who keeps popping up in the background of the pub scenes, looking entirely lost. I don't think he has a single line. I started watching him more than the actual plot for about ten minutes.

The whole thing feels a little bit like watching a play that somebody just happened to point a camera at. It lacks the slickness of modern stuff, which is usually a good thing, but it does get a little repetitive. You can almost feel the script running out of steam toward the end, just spinning its wheels until the inevitable handshake happens.

It’s a bit like What Happened to Jones in terms of how much it relies on personality over complex plot. It doesn't need to be deep. It just needs the Countess to stay mad. 🍺