| Greg Sushinsky Bodybuilding Fitness, Nutrition & Health |
| Review: The German Maestro of Muscle, Wilfried Dubbels by Greg Sushinsky |
| If a man were to step out of a painting from one of the great masters, perhaps a Raphael canvas, and onto a bodybuilding DVD, he might be Wilfried Dubbels. Who is Wilfried Dubbels? Ah, if you haven’t heard of him— and not enough people have—you are missing something. |
Wilfried is a fine German bodybuilder from the mid and late 1970s, who carried the Reeves lineage
modified by Zane-type seventies styling, with more than enough of his own originality to create a lasting
impact among a too-small coterie of bodybuilding aficionados, who recognized the greatness of his
physique and the pronouncement of an indelible style.
Though the direction and verdict of bodybuilding history has veered off elsewhere, appreciators of
Dubbels remain, and owe Wayne Gallasch a double thanks, first for discovering, filming, and bringing to
the attention of the bodybuilding world the German physique artist during the seventies, and second, for
reprising this same artist in a DVD presentation in 2004.
The presentation includes extensive early footage, shot in the 1970s by Wayne, during the discovery
period of Dubbels. The pose-fest is highlighted by the unmistakable style of Wilfried’s physique, his
classic look and dynamic presentation. Long lines and dramatic flowing shots mark the maestro’s posing,
with more than a glimpse of what would later become his unique, signature three-quarters front lat shots
and his wide, sweeping, Reeves-Zane-Gironda kneeling, twisting, three-quarters back shots, the latter
shots being more than mere homage, but like any gifted poser, fashioned and taken over to become his
own.
The beauty of the work is, as usual, highlighted by the understated presentation evident in so much of
Wayne Gallasch’s fine work: Gallasch and his camera allow and encourage Wilfried’s physique to
eloquently speak for itself. There are sessions in the seventies in London and Germany; outdoors and
studio, with some gym footage included. Throughout it all, you can see that Dubbels has what the great
posers in bodybuilding all have: an ability to shine through with the unique self-expression that imprints
not only on film, but in the viewer’s mind, that it is not a series of poses or muscle groups, but a unity, a
totality, a master of bodybuilding holding court. If it were possible, the camera itself seems mesmerized
by the Dubbels living, breathing, statuary in motion.
The DVD then moves into a segment where Wilfried talks with Wayne about some of the posing sessions
and shows still shots from a prized magazine article in MuscleMag International, photographed in 1976 and
published in 1977. Here, the spread largely shot in Canada by Bob Kennedy and published along with
training and background information on Wilfried, in Kennedy’s magazine, shows Dubbels near his all-time
peak as a bodybuilder. The 1976-1978 years for Wilfried bring his physique to fruition, his fusion of line,
definition, proportion, balance, appropriate muscle mass, all converging to create the condition and
resultant image that has come to represent the iconic Dubbels.
For the denouement, we have Wilfried in the present, at fifty-plus years old, looking vigorous and fit, with
some shots of him working out in his home gym, and the highlight of the piece, Wilfried Dubbels posing
nearly thirty years after the initial footage in the DVD. The superb condition is more than physique-time
travel. Yes, the same grand, sweeping three-quarters back shots are there, with the signature
presentation etched more deeply than ever by hardened, practiced definition hammered into those same
classic lines. Allowing grudgingly for a slight amount of age, it is a landmark performance showing the
stellar physique of a bodybuilder who has forged himself into an ongoing, breathing work of art.
The refrain throughout is the modest, measured conversational tones of Wilfried as he narrates without
embellishment or without conceit some of his personal and physique history. There is a wonderful, almost
casual epilogue that honors Wilfried which Wayne Gallasch has filmed, of present-day Wilfried going
through his poses fully clothed, smiling as if coaxed to finally acknowledge that yes, he realizes he has
achieved something remarkable.
“I never had big muscles,” he casually remarks at one point in his story, while the epiphany you are viewing
on the screen makes you want to protest, “Well, maybe, but look!” And look we should at what he’s
wrought, and at what Wayne Gallasch has wrought. It reminds you of the Bradley Steiner comment, that
no work of art should ever be judged on size.
This DVD, does it capture the art? Yes! History? Yes. Preservation? This DVD is also a unique present
as a testament to what Wilfried is now and bodybuilding might have been or could become. And more,
Wayne Gallasch has created a unique work spanning not only time, but he and Wilfried Dubbels have
conspired to step beyond time, to mark a bit of bodybuilding eternity.
Copyright © 2005, Greg Sushinsky. All Rights Reserved.
www.gregsushinsky.com
modified by Zane-type seventies styling, with more than enough of his own originality to create a lasting
impact among a too-small coterie of bodybuilding aficionados, who recognized the greatness of his
physique and the pronouncement of an indelible style.
Though the direction and verdict of bodybuilding history has veered off elsewhere, appreciators of
Dubbels remain, and owe Wayne Gallasch a double thanks, first for discovering, filming, and bringing to
the attention of the bodybuilding world the German physique artist during the seventies, and second, for
reprising this same artist in a DVD presentation in 2004.
The presentation includes extensive early footage, shot in the 1970s by Wayne, during the discovery
period of Dubbels. The pose-fest is highlighted by the unmistakable style of Wilfried’s physique, his
classic look and dynamic presentation. Long lines and dramatic flowing shots mark the maestro’s posing,
with more than a glimpse of what would later become his unique, signature three-quarters front lat shots
and his wide, sweeping, Reeves-Zane-Gironda kneeling, twisting, three-quarters back shots, the latter
shots being more than mere homage, but like any gifted poser, fashioned and taken over to become his
own.
The beauty of the work is, as usual, highlighted by the understated presentation evident in so much of
Wayne Gallasch’s fine work: Gallasch and his camera allow and encourage Wilfried’s physique to
eloquently speak for itself. There are sessions in the seventies in London and Germany; outdoors and
studio, with some gym footage included. Throughout it all, you can see that Dubbels has what the great
posers in bodybuilding all have: an ability to shine through with the unique self-expression that imprints
not only on film, but in the viewer’s mind, that it is not a series of poses or muscle groups, but a unity, a
totality, a master of bodybuilding holding court. If it were possible, the camera itself seems mesmerized
by the Dubbels living, breathing, statuary in motion.
The DVD then moves into a segment where Wilfried talks with Wayne about some of the posing sessions
and shows still shots from a prized magazine article in MuscleMag International, photographed in 1976 and
published in 1977. Here, the spread largely shot in Canada by Bob Kennedy and published along with
training and background information on Wilfried, in Kennedy’s magazine, shows Dubbels near his all-time
peak as a bodybuilder. The 1976-1978 years for Wilfried bring his physique to fruition, his fusion of line,
definition, proportion, balance, appropriate muscle mass, all converging to create the condition and
resultant image that has come to represent the iconic Dubbels.
For the denouement, we have Wilfried in the present, at fifty-plus years old, looking vigorous and fit, with
some shots of him working out in his home gym, and the highlight of the piece, Wilfried Dubbels posing
nearly thirty years after the initial footage in the DVD. The superb condition is more than physique-time
travel. Yes, the same grand, sweeping three-quarters back shots are there, with the signature
presentation etched more deeply than ever by hardened, practiced definition hammered into those same
classic lines. Allowing grudgingly for a slight amount of age, it is a landmark performance showing the
stellar physique of a bodybuilder who has forged himself into an ongoing, breathing work of art.
The refrain throughout is the modest, measured conversational tones of Wilfried as he narrates without
embellishment or without conceit some of his personal and physique history. There is a wonderful, almost
casual epilogue that honors Wilfried which Wayne Gallasch has filmed, of present-day Wilfried going
through his poses fully clothed, smiling as if coaxed to finally acknowledge that yes, he realizes he has
achieved something remarkable.
“I never had big muscles,” he casually remarks at one point in his story, while the epiphany you are viewing
on the screen makes you want to protest, “Well, maybe, but look!” And look we should at what he’s
wrought, and at what Wayne Gallasch has wrought. It reminds you of the Bradley Steiner comment, that
no work of art should ever be judged on size.
This DVD, does it capture the art? Yes! History? Yes. Preservation? This DVD is also a unique present
as a testament to what Wilfried is now and bodybuilding might have been or could become. And more,
Wayne Gallasch has created a unique work spanning not only time, but he and Wilfried Dubbels have
conspired to step beyond time, to mark a bit of bodybuilding eternity.
Copyright © 2005, Greg Sushinsky. All Rights Reserved.
www.gregsushinsky.com
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