The two-part documentary “Automania” unfolds the history of the automobile as a relationship between man and machine. The car: drug, technical wonder, object of desire. Like hardly any other machine, the car is more than that. It is loved, cherished and cared for, protected and used for self-expression. At the same time, it is a sign of economic prosperity: whoever drives a (certain) car has made something of himself. And what applies individually also applies to societies: The car creates jobs and prosperity. But the dream relationship that lasted for 100 years has fallen into crisis. The films tell in an entertaining, moody and emotional way about the rise of the car to become an icon of the West and suggest future prospects. The films combine factual informations with nostalgically colourful memories of eyewitnesses. In addition, there are statements by experts as well as politicians and business representatives.
Second part of the story of mankind’s love for the motorcar. In this episode car designers have created emblematic models that car enthusiasts love such as Citroën’s 2CV, the Volkswagen Beetle and East Germany’s Trabant. How do producers keep us attached to our cars with the latest designs?
The love story between mankind and the motorcar began more than one hundred years ago. At the beginning it was the preserve of the rich but over the decades, wider society was able to afford automobiles as the dream of freedom and the excitement of speed took over.
The two-part documentary “Automania” unfolds the history of the automobile as a relationship between man and machine. The car: drug, technical wonder, object of desire. Like hardly any other machine, the car is more than that. It is loved, cherished and cared for, protected and used for self-expression. At the same time, it is a sign of economic prosperity: whoever drives a (certain) car has made something of himself. And what applies individually also applies to societies: The car creates jobs and prosperity. But the dream relationship that lasted for 100 years has fallen into crisis. The films tell in an entertaining, moody and emotional way about the rise of the car to become an icon of the West and suggest future prospects. The films combine factual informations with nostalgically colourful memories of eyewitnesses. In addition, there are statements by experts as well as politicians and business representatives.
Thomas Balou Martin , Ferdinand Dudenhöffer , Ortwin Renn
Kerstin Barenbrock
ARTE , ZDF
