The Miracle of Bern

This movie is clearly en par with "Die Feuerzangenbowle" or "Der blaue Engel"

In the background it describes the post war Germany, the desperation, the aggression, the losses, the private and public devastation. Fantastic the scene when the train arrives in Essen and all the women anxiously hope that their husband or son will be on that train (many many of them were actually disappointed). Amazing how Soenke shows the game against Austria where he lets children play the actual game scenes on some muddy grass pitch, with the original radio comment running.

In the foreground it tells the story about those 90 minutes which many consider as the turning point for Germany in the 20th century. I was not existent yet but my mother and many others that I know of her generation can still tell what they did during these 90 minutes in 1954. The movie is brilliantly made, with real soccer players as actors (that shows at times, see "The school of rock"). The goals in the final actually happened the way they are shown in the movie. The American movie goers may not understand many of the little details (all the Herberger Phrases are there, Helmut Rahn actually had a severe alcohol problem later in life). They also may not realize the importance of soccer in all the rest of the world ;) which cannot be overestimated.

German director Sönke Wortmann manages to recreate an atmosphere that kept the young German nation after WW2: Depression, fear, no perspectives for many people that are still suffering from the mayhem of the war. But he also shows that society is developing under the influence of the allied forces. It is perfectly chosen to follow the main plot on the side of young Matthias Lubanski (Louis Klamroth delivers an overwhelming performance! As the rest of the cast as well!). He only knows about the aftermath of the war, not all the evil that it brought before, and he has to deal with all what is surrounding him. He needs to have something to believe in, and when his father returns after 12 years of russian captivity his world turns upside down, but not for the better. During the movie both, he and his father, have to learn hard lessons of life, but for each its a necessary development to find its place in life. So when father and son travel to Switzerland, the colours of the movie change from the dark and grey Ruhrpott to the green and blue of the Alps. The second plot is woven into this one: The progress of the German National-Soccer-Team at the World Cup in Switzerland. Different players from different teams have to become one team, each fighting for each other. One for all and all for one. This is transferable to the German nation itself, on the verge to a new democratic future where at the beginning everything is linked to each other.

The movie is heart-warming and shows, by the way, how fantastic soccer (or any other team-sport) can be. How it can carry away the audience.

When the German team beat the former unbeatable (for almost 4 years!) Hungarian team 3-2 - something nobody every dared dreaming of - the whole German nation felt as one and knew that there is a new future!

Just one thing that felt rather negatively. Why was it not possible to create a more exciting and realistic atmoshpere in the stadium of Bern? The spectators, all too apparently created via blue-screen, looked too artificial. There was no depth. You never felt really appealed by that audience, because it looked not real. I think Wortmann should have been more perfect with that. Regarding the fact that so many special effects professionals from Germany work in Hollywood (e.g. for Roland Emmerich) the result could have been much, much better!

But nevertheless, this is one of the best German movies in a decade!

I just watched "Das Wunder von Bern" and I must admit it is really a good film, not only for football fans (for you Americans: we Europeans say football for soccer). The film is not just a sports drama but deals more with the atmosphere in post war Germany and with the problems and aspirations the people had during that period and what the winning of the world championship by the German national football team meant for the regular people.

Actually this atmosphere is covered excellently. The film shows that the people were still recovering from WW2. There are heaps of debris in the streets from houses destroyed during air raids and many men are still kept as POWs so that the women have to take care for the family. The children play football with a makeshift ball, and most people don't seem to have much money. Everything is shown in subdued colors which really contribute to this mood. Although the story is set in Essen, a city in the main industrial and mining region of Germany, it could have happened everywhere in Germany.

The colors only change during the scenes in Switzerland, where the world championship took place. In fact those scenes are shot in bright and friendly colors. And also the settings are quite different from those in Essen: whereas the location in Essen consists of small apartment buildings, narrow streets and those aforementioned subdued colors, everything in Switzerland seems to be posh and spacious.

Even though the actors are not exactly great names in German cinema, they are quite good. As far as I know the actors who play the members of the German national football team were cast not only for their acting skills but also for their ability to play football. Thanks to that aspect the football scenes are quite convincing (although the spectators in the football stadium in Bern look really fake).

What I really liked though was the fact that the filmmakers used the original radio commentary from reporter Herbert Zimmermann, which is legendary. Every German football fan knows the important parts of his commentary by heart.

All in all a good and entertaining film, although I didn't really like the ending.

Even though or rather because it has more of a family drama than of a thrilling sports movie, it achieves to entertain as well as touch the spectators for two solid hours. Actually, the family story is perfectly integrated in the circumstances of 1954's football world-cup and shows in a very sensitive way the changes that this game, especially the finals with their victory over Hungary, have on the focused family in special and on whole Germany - which is still depressed by the misery caused by the second world war - in general. Becoming - for the very first time - football's world champion gives the country back its hopes for the future and people's joy in life. Matthis' father, and with him the whole family finally finds back to themselves. This movie perfectly holds the balance between sad and joyful scenes which, together with a decent sense of humor, never lets the story drift to one side. The spectators can truly feel with the well played characters of the family members and their progress throughout the events. Finally, the movie leads into a satisfying end without getting trashy.

Historically, few movies have been made about football (or soccer, for those in the United States). I believe this is due for two reasons: 1) Hollywood wasn't familiar and care little for the sport for many years, and 2) European directors, who one would have expected to be more disposed to made such a film, have generally been dismissive of football. You see, in their mind, I think they see it as the opiate of the people (the working class in Western Europe would rather go and see a match on Sunday than start a revolution to overthrow capitalism). Only recently there have been a number of movies that deal with the world's most popular sport. This is in my opinion the best of them, dealing with the surprise victory of Germany in the 1954 World Cup over the highly favored team of Hungary. This victory was of historical significance for the Germans, according to some people, since it was the first victory of any kind Germany have 9 years after the end of the war, and it meant the start of a new era of increased self-confidence for the country. OK, maybe this is an exaggeration, but this movie, which mixes real characters (the players, coach Herberger) with invented ones (the journalist and his newly married wife, the kid from the Ruhr region who has a bad relationship with his former POW father and wants to go to Switzerland to see the final match) is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.