Sandow Review

Sandow is a 2018 feature film directed by Alexander Cooper

Taking on a film project is a daunting process. Add to that the struggles of creating a believable period film for any project done on a small independent budget and that daunting process grows to something astronomical. For the film Sandow this to me is its greatest triumph, the ability to create something believable against so many odds, itself a reflection of the self-made man that Eugen Sandow was in his life.

Therefore, it pains me so much that the one key piece of the puzzle that hurt this film the most was the poor audio mixing. A great man once said, “An audience can forgive a bad image, but they’ll never forgive bad sound.” If there is one thing that broke my immersion throughout my viewing experience it was this.

I can greatly appreciate any film or media that introduces me to someone I know nothing about. For me that was Eugen Sandow, a Prussian bodybuilder who lived from 1867 to 1925. Of course, being a student of film, I’ve seen the famous footage of the bodybuilder flexing in 1894 for Edison films, but I did not even know who that person was until today. It is always amazing experiencing something new or foreign thanks to the power of film.

Outside of the sound issues, I think the acting was strong, although there were moments of scenes where characters were cutting off lines from one another, in what felt like a single take without any additional material being filmed. However, everyone certainly can be commended for committing to their parts. The clothing and set dressing were also well done here too.

I know I can start getting greedy with something made on a small budget but reading through the life of Eugen Sandow in my mind there was room for so many different settings, storylines, and interactions for this character to go through as he did in his time. The story presented is not bad at all though, but it is one that follows the same beats for biopics that has been trodden down before.

For me Sandow is a film that comes as hard to recommend simply on the audio mixing alone. If that was fixed or alleviated it would make for a much easier watch. In its current state though, despite the acting, the visual, the camerawork, the audio just hinders what could be a nice biopic about a man you probably know next to nothing about. My sincerest hope is that Cooper and his team home in on all that they did so well with this film to make something even better in the future. I look forward to being able to sit down with those projects to come!

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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