Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen

I saw this movie on Friday and I found it to be very amusing and interesting. I consider myself as a huge fan so I was thrilled to see a halftime speak of the coach during a game or how the team management successfully created a brilliant team spirit. Meanwhile people in the cinema cheered when Germany scored or Lehmann saved a penalty, it was a little bit like during the world cup. Wortmann did a great job in silently observing the German team, so you really felt as you were a part of this whole great event. Finally I'd like to say that everybody that enjoy the world cup as much as I did and who took part in the whole public viewing thing should go and watch this movie. It brings back the feelings and memories of the wonderful (soccer) summer. It was really a summer-fairy tail.

Hello, I am a huge Michael Ballack fan and of course, a fan of the German soccer team. It broke my heart to watch them lose against Italy and thus, lose their chance to win the World Cup.

I live in the US, and so haven't yet watched the German documentary: 'Deutschland. Ein Sommermarchen' and it's also very difficult to find any information related to this film.

Does anyone have an idea about when the DVD release of this documentary is slated for? Has a release date been announced yet? I hope that it would not be too far into the future. I would appreciate any web-links or information. Thank you.

In the course of four weeks (June 9 until July 9, 2006) Germany was nothing but a huge party. Celebrating the fantastic achievements of our national soccer team.

Sönke Wortmann, the director of this documentation, accompanied the team during this time. "Deutschland - Ein Sommermärchen" gives us a glance behind the curtain.

The beginning is at the same time the most tragical moment. The defeat against Italy along with the grieving players and coaches.

Afterwards the movie chronologically goes the way from the training camp until the semi - final. We are able to see the players in their training sessions, tactical discussions among the coaching staff, and lots of fooling around from the young players like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. We can see that a team was growing. We can see the intense sense of community and solidarity among them.

The documentation doesn't focus on the soccer scenes alone. However, it doesn't neglect them. We see the goals again, the enthusiastic fans, the hilarious atmosphere which infected the whole country.

I'm glad we also see a lot of what happened apart from the football ground. It's interesting to see what happened in the dressing room while we (the fans watching on TV) were fetching another drink or going to the toilet or whatever we did during the breaks.

Altogether I can recommend this documentation to everyone who had fun in the great summer 2006. And I recommend it to everyone who considers the Germans to be some non-smiling accurate work-robots.

It was a unique experience. A whole nation was backing up its soccer team. National flags were waving from every car, every house. It was, as if Germany had completely changed over night. That's why we call it a summer fairy-tale - "Ein Sommermärchen".

I remember watching sort of a similar movie concerning France winning the WC in 1998. It was a phenomenal movie and I thought, french players are something special in terms of still being in a "growing-up" phase, making fun with others and just having a good time while earning their money.

This movie is great, it reveals, that all of this guys, even though most of them a millionaires, are still humans, who live their life like u and me. Although I am half German too, I never thought my fellow men could behave like the multicultural team of France, but they do ! I think u get a great view of the German Team, if u don't already know it. If you watch this movie, i think you will understand, why this Team had such a great success. Wortmann shows and mixture of guys, who perfectly match up. Young guns like Schweinsteiger and Podolski, making jokes all the time, just like the young boys do, when I go out of my house and ol' "rabbits" (Thats the way we call it in Germany) like Nowotny and Kahn, supporting the Team whenever they can.

The movie makes you feel connected to these guys, because it takes away some prejudices and wipes away the cut and dried opinions of them working wonders. Jürgen Klinsmann puts up the same statements like a 7th league coach, talking to a defender ("He will smell your breath all the time, Arne!").

In a nutshell, after watching the movie, I think if I would meet Podolski on the street court next to my house, and if he really had time for it, he would never reject playing some One on One soccer games with me and joking about passing girls ..

Well, I am used to the omni-present criticism of Germans. That's why I would like to say: well done, Sönke! Great documentation, funny situations. Would have loved to see more of the boot camp in Italy, though;) Looking forward to the DVD release with additional scenes. My friend and me had to smile every other scene. And it was quite an insight to see what happens in the locker room before, during and after a game - especially for someone who (like me) has never played a team sport on a competition level. And even Ballack grew on me - I never really liked him before - which might have to do with my fondness of Werder Bremen, though;)But of course the hero is Torsten "Lutscher" Frings! Why? See for yourself!!