25 km/h – when the moped becomes a road-trip vehicle
Lars Eidinger and Bjarne Mädel on a moped tour across Germany – a film about brothers, beer and missed opportunities
Two brothers, two mopeds, thirty years of silence – and an idea that had already failed when they were 16: to ride a moped across Germany. “25 km/h” is one of those stories that actually has nothing to do with motorcycles – and yet everything.
The film
Markus Goller’s 2018 road-movie comedy sends Georg (Bjarne Mädel) and Christian (Lars Eidinger) on a journey that begins at a funeral. The two brothers have not seen each other for 30 years. After a night of heavy drinking, they find themselves on their mopeds – Georg on a Puch Maxi, Christian on a Zündapp – and decide to make up for the tour for which there was never the right moment.
From the Black Forest to Rügen. At a maximum of 25 km/h. Over 40, bruised and carrying heavy baggage – in every sense.
What this has to do with us
Admittedly, technically speaking, these are mopeds, not motorcycles. A top speed of 25 km/h, no permission to use the motorway, no horsepower figure worth talking about. And yet the film captures exactly what riding is all about.
It is not the machine that makes the journey. Not the engine capacity. Not the speedometer needle. It is the decision to set off in the first place. The rest happens by itself – the conversations, the breakdowns, the evenings somewhere by the roadside that you could never have planned.
Georg and Christian could have met again on an ICE train. But they would not have. That is exactly the point.
Watch it if you can
“25 km/h” is not a perfect film. The story is not new, and the ending is predictable. But Mädel and Eidinger perform in a way that makes you forget that. The landscapes are beautiful. The mopeds are charmingly broken. And the soundtrack puts you in a good mood.
Anyone who likes road trips, anyone who has ever gone on a tour with a mate, anyone who knows what it is like to ride for two hours and then have talked more afterwards than in the two years before – will find their film here.
Cinema release: 1 November 2018 · Director: Markus Goller · Cast: Lars Eidinger, Bjarne Mädel, Sandra Hüller, Franka Potente
---
No Bike No Life. That applies to 25 km/h too.
