The Miracle of Bern (2003)

I did not know until reading the comments at the IMDb site that winning the FIFA World Cup in 1954 meant so much to a Germany that was building a new, humanitarian society.

I want to add two remarks to what has been said so well by the others.

First of all, I think that "Miracle at Berlin" should be released worldwide with English sub-titles because it has such a good story to tell. It only had Thai sub-titles (not English) here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but I was lucky to understand enough of the German dialog. The theatre manager later told me the Thai sub-titles helped many natives here to enjoy and appreciate this, so he ran it an extra week.

Secondly, it is pleasant to see the Germans in the film express their patriotic pride in such a positive way. For example, it was fun to watch the young woman who agreed to delay her honeymoon so that her sportswriter husband could cover the World Cup in Switzerland. She had cared little about the tournament but in the final match came out in front of the German fans to lead cheers for their struggling team.

Since then it was also a pleasure to see and read how Germany hosted such a successful World Cup tournament in July, 2006, with their theme for visitors from around the world, "A Time to Make Friends." I'm reminded how Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren said he would first read the sports pages for news of human accomplishments before having to turn to the front pages to learn about the failures. Now that so much of the Middle East is once again in flames, we need stories like "Miracle at Berlin" to remind us that sometimes there are still happy endings.

Fmovies: "Das Wunder von Bern", a movie about the first German World Cup victory of 1954, is surprisingly entertaining and one of the better German movies these years. The background is really good, featuring a war-torn Germany which is already in the middle of the "Wirtschaftswunder", showing the huge contrast between children of Coal Workers who do not own a real football, and a newly wed reporter with his wife, who are living in a modern house with lots of clothes, and would have made a trip to Africa if not for the world cup. In my case, the greatest part though was the heavy use of the different German dialects - it's hard to believe how funny simple jokes can sound if told that way - but at the same time, I doubt this will work in foreign-language versions. Therefore, for foreigners, I'd give only 6/10, because of the probably less interesting German history, and mainly because of the lack of adequate translations of language-related jokes. For Germans (or those few non-Germans out there who study German and watch the original version), I'd give 8/10, close to 9.

In a very moving and unsentimental Drama, Sönke Wortmann brings us the amazing story of the German National Soccer Team, who unexpectedly defeated the Hungarians in the final of the World Cup 1954 in Switzerland.

After being a prisoner of war for 9 years, Richard Lubanski comes home to his family, only to find himself in a world, strange and unknown to him. His oldest son Bruno is a communist, who plays Jazz music for a living, his daughter Ingrid helps her mother at the family's bar, and his youngest son Matthias is a soccer fan and a good friend of Helmut Rahn, a player of the German national team. Richard in his embitterment and desperation drives his family apart, and for a long time fails to realize that he's the one responsible for it. In the second plot line, the journalist Paul Ackermann gets the honorable assignment of reporting for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in Switzerland during the World Cup, news not to well received by his wife Annette, who was already planning their honeymoon. She insists on coming with him and during her stay in Switzerland she learns quite a bit about soccer and in the end knows more about it than her husband. The German National team, under Coach Sepp Herberger, is confronted with very difficult opponents and after an embarrassing defeat against the Hungarians, many Germans already see the team's chances gone of entering the next round. Rahn, who got drunk after the loss against Hungary, but learned from his mistakes, and Fritz Walter, the captain of the team, though, both very ambitious players, try to motivate the whole team and eventually they play in the final, once again against the Hungarians.

Whether you are a soccer fan or not is of little importance when watching this movie, as it is more about family, friendship and teamwork than about the sport itself. At times moving, at others funny, "Das Wunder von Bern" is a wonderful portrait of Germany after World War II, a desperate nation in desire of a miracle. The young Louis Klamroth gives an extremely good performance, as do Peter Franke, Sascha Göpel and especially Peter Lohmeyer as Richard Lubanski. All in all, an excellent piece of German history. (9.5/10)

The Miracle of Bern fmovies. I have seen this movie on November 2005 in an European Cinema Festival in Lima. It was really excellent, and I'm purchasing it on Amazon.de. The digital making of Wankdorf Stadion in Bern was awesome, and the story was touching. The performing of the final was a surprise, because before it, no football scene had been seen in the movie. Only one mistake: the boy went with his father from Germany to Bern by car (borrowed from a priest), but they returned by train. What happened to the car of the infortunate priest? Nevertheless, if you are a football fan, don't miss it and PURCHASE IT FROM AMAZON.DE!!! The DVD does have Spanish subtitles.

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.

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.