In view of the many problems with the railway, supernatural help is needed, or at least extraterrestrial help. It has now landed: in the form of a “mass man” who travels through Bavaria in lederhosen by regional train. And that wasn’t even the most unrealistic thing about the new commercial.
There is a certain tradition of complaining about the railways, which unfortunately had to be cultivated more than necessary. Because in Bavaria in particular there is a true summer of chaos behind the rail system: full of problems, failures, delays, route closures, communication breakdowns, overcrowded trains, frustrated passengers… in short: things have been better for traveling by train in this country. It needs extraterrestrial, or at least extraterrestrial help.
It has now landed: in the form of a short film and an alien. The clip called “mass people”, can be seen on the YouTube account of DB Regio Bayern and in select theaters, begins with the standard quest of destroying the earth. However, it goes wrong. The blue-green-headed Martian Haudi Hera crash-lands in the Allgäu, while his colleague Samma Mehra and his “destruction machine” are stranded in Breitengüßbach in Upper Franconia. And a UFO for the trip there is simply not to be found. So Haudi, out of necessity, steals lederhosen from the clothesline, climbs into the saucer-substitute train, encounters Bavarian hospitality in an impressive setting and learns how to wear a mask correctly over the mouth and nose.
All of this – apart from the mask, which also overwhelms earthlings in the third year of Corona – may sound a little far-fetched. In fact, it’s not even the most unrealistic thing about the film. By the way, it’s not a continuation of the rail chaos with marketing means, but is worth seeing because of the scene that Breitengüßbach de facto declares the end of the world. So if you want to see the story for yourself, you should stop reading here. Everyone else may wonder. How, for example, did the alien manage to get a valid ticket despite the Bavarian tariff confusion? Which local recommends traveling by public transport with four to five transfers as the best travel option? Why aren’t the trains late and why do the passengers seem so relaxed and happy? And is train travel in Bavaria really a good argument against the destruction of the earth? Oh well. It’s science fiction. Not only can it do something like that: it has to be fantastic in the truest sense of the word.