Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) And what you need even more is a definite interest in football (and history). "Das Wunder von Bern" or "The Miracle of Bern" is a German film from over 10 years ago that runs for almost 120 minutes and was really a big thing back then if I remember correctly. Director and writer Sönke Wortmann is still a name today to everybody with an interest in German movies. However, with regard to the film's popularity, the cast is relatively unknown. Peter Lohmeyer is the only actor who is above-average in terms of how famous they are, maybe Wackernagel as well. Anyway, this was already the second or third time I watched this film and it is still a pretty solid watch. You can probably categorize this film into 3 sequences. The first would be everything about the family, the second would be the football teams and games and the third would be the reporter and his wife.The latter is easily the weakest. Wackernagel and Gregorowicz were sometimes embarrassingly bad and this story also added nothing of value in terms of the entire movie. No idea why they included it. The runtime also was in a dimension where they could have done completely without it I believe. The story with the boy who admired one of the players was decent, the father who returned from war added a nice historic impact to the film, even if they certainly could have elaborated more on him. No idea why Johanna Gastdorf received a German Film award nomination, she really wasn't that convincing. The other son's comments about the GDR were actually comedy gold looking at how that country turned out. The best part, however, was the football reference. Bern 1954 is still a special event for every German who knows a bit about football. Of course, the significance of the triumph has also to do with what happened in the 20 years before that.I don't think this was a particularly convincing film in terms of writing and acting. There were a couple very bad scenes unfortunately, for example when Wackernagel's character starts screaming in the audience. That was definitely embarrassing. Overall, I remembered liking this film more the last time I saw it. Still, it's a pretty decent watch thanks to the references to this great day in German history and it's also a decent summary overall of the World Cup 1954 from German perspective. Thumbs up.

Harry T. Yung SpoilersLet's set the score straight. 'Football' here does not mean the affair in which your kicking score comprises 3 points for a field goal and 1 for a successful touchdown conversion.The general backdrop is post WWII Germany. The story runs parallel in two venues (a small town in Germany and the facilities for the 1954 World Cup held in Switzerland) and three lines: a war prisoner returning to readapt to a new life; a couple's belated, improvised honeymoon when the husband is called upon to report on the World Cup; and the German team's struggle and triumph.The characters are varied, as is their difference in depth. Somewhat one-dimensional, albeit rather pleasing, is the young couple in the sub-plot, she from a rich family, playful and fun-loving, he a rising reporter (although it's difficult to tell why, based on his performance), with little hint in either to shed much light on their real character. Having more depth is the family with the father returning after 12 years as a prison-of-war to his wife and three children. The main focus here is on the father and the youngest son he didn't even know about, being was born nine months after he left (didn't get the letters sent to him). The father's difficulties in adjusting back to a normal life is reasonably well depicted. The twelve-year-old's innocence, slightly introvert personality and healthy curiosity have also come across nicely. In the last of the three story lines, the Germany football team, the two key characters are the coach and a player from the boy's town, who is also his mentor and father figure. Both are stereotyped, but acceptable. There are a few aspects of this film that I would like to particularly mention. Some of the scenes of Switzerland are unbelievably beautiful, even surpassing those you see at the opening of The Sound of Music (when Julie Andrews sings the title number). The dialogue, insofar as I can surmise from the sub-title, is witty. There is even an exchange, between the coach and a cleaning lady at the hotel, that comprises entirely of proverbs, reminiscing of two songs in two different Gilbert and Sullivan operettas (HMS Pinafore and Iolanthe). The usual 'echoing' technique is well places e.g. in the final scene in the train, the boy bringing two cold beers to his mentor, or echoing to his father what the latter said before 'German boys don't cry'.I think it's appropriate to leave the final words to football. The upbeat game in the finale is well shot and wisely refrains from being over-melodramatic, although, as far as I understand, the actual score of 3-1 has been modified to 3-2 for dramatic effects. To the audience in town, the games are obviously much more appealing than those in Remember the Titans (2000). Interesting to note also that thing haven't changed in 50 years. Although the TV screen has come a long way, the crowd at the pub shown in the movie is essentially no different from the crowd I rubbed shoulder with in the local pubs two years ago for the 2002 World Cup.

meitschi A wonderful little film, "Das Wunder von Bern" succeeds to capture the atmosphere of Germany in the mid-Fifties. The film is not so much about the football world championship of 1954 itself, but about how important this victory became for the Germans themselves. A nation torn apart and devastated by war, disoriented and sad, found new strength and something in which to believe in.I first feared that I wouldn't like the movie so much as I am a Hungarian myself (the nation West Germany beat in the finals of the 1954 world championship in Bern), but in fact I was rather enchanted by the story. The excellent script brings the characters (above all little Mathias) to life. You start to care about them, to like them, to follow their ups and downs with interest. I especially liked the sensitive approach to the problems a family had to face when the father came back after years as a POW. As many other men in a similar situation, Richard Lubanski first wants to show strength and authority by being cold, arrogant and even violent towards his children - but later discovers that he also has to show his weaknesses and talk about his terrible experiences in war in order to get closer to his family again.The parallel storyline of newlywed journalist Ackermann and his pretty and snobbish wife Anette was not very closely related to the main story, but I still liked it as the film showed through their lifestyle the beginning prosperity of the "Wirtschaftswunder" (economy miracle) years in contrast to the still bleak world of the industrial and mining town the Lubanski family lives in. And they also added some lighthearted comic relief to the film.I would very much like people from other countries/cultures to see this film and understand better what Germany went through in these years.I am quite sure that they would not have big problems understanding "Das Wunder von Bern", as its main themes (family, war, traumatic experiences, failure and success) are quite universal.

jlaubsch The film managed to avoid cliches about this period of history, which a few of us can still remember. The interweaving of several stories, which sometimes seems miraculous, is well directed by Soenke Wortmann.