Heimat Edgar Reitz (1984)
Made in the early 1980's as a reaction to the American TV series Holocaust, Reitz created his TV series that chronicles the history of one family in a fictitious village in the Hunsrueck Mountains in Western Germany from 1919 to 1982.
It is compelling viewing as the audience sees the Simon family as it comes to terms with defeat in 1919, inflation, political unrest, the Nazis coming to power, the Second World War, defeat (again) and the economic miracle.
The film is a family history and harks back to the German tradition of the Heimat film, which is a particular German genre mythologising and sanctifying the German landscape. In an interview Edgar Reitz gave in 1986 to Film Quarterly Reitz said that he wanted to show that those that cooperated with the Nazis were not "others" as had been held in the 1950's, 60's and 70's but had been the German's themselves and to a greater or lessor extent part of the German culture of the time. (See note 1). In doing this he hoped to normalise memory and help the Germans to come to terms with who they were.
It is a long 11 part TV series but absolutely worth seeing. It is available from Amazon.co.uk click here for a link to the page
Das Boot, Wolfgang Peterson (1981)
Perhaps one of the best known German films in the UK as it regularly re appears on Channel Four and Film Four.
It tells the story of a young propaganda officer who is assigned to a U Boat based in Western France. The U Boat is ordered to sea and the propaganda officer sees at first hand the privations and struggles of mainly honourable men as they try and stay alive. The U Boat not only has to fight the British but the North Atlantic weather and the idiots in the High Command. It is only by pulling together against these three enemies do the men survive to return to shore.
The German News Magazine Der Spiegel called the film, " An underwater Western that is spiced up with Apocalypse Now and surrounded with a fussily galactic soundtrack...in which Peterson has tried to bring the terrors of the war to a new audience" Note 2.
Again this film can only be recommended and can be bought from Amazon.co.uk here
Der Untergang, Downfall Oliver Hirschbiegel (2004).
Hirschbiegel's 2004 classic which depicts the last few days of Hitler's life in the claustrophobic confines of the Berlin Bunker as seen through the eyes of his personal secretary, Traudl Junge. Based on her autobiography and Joachim Fest's book about Hitler's final days we see personalities slowly fall apart and weak men become strong in the face of severe adversity.
The film became famous as the first in which Hitler was shown with any personality. Swiss actor Bruno Ganz seems to capture something of the spirit of the man in his portrayal. The film is also famous for bending the truth and making heroes of men who were in actual fact anything but. The greatest example of this being Dr Schenk, who is held up as a great humanitarian while actually being an SS doctor who worked at Dachau.
A German Studies review of the film said, "despite their portrayal as men with emotions, weaknesses, and, even, personal charm....the viewer's sympathies turn away from the leading Nazis, they are directed to
lesser characters, some real historical figures like Junge, and to the nameless Berliners,young and old, who give their lives in the war's waning moments for Hitler's insane determination never to surrender." Note 3
In this is the power of the film, our sympathy is not with the big men of the Third Reich but with their people who allowed themselves to be led in to oblivion and must now pay the price which their leaders are unable to bear.
As an aside Traudl Junge was interviewed about her life with Hitler and I attach a link to the film called: Im Toten Winkel (note the attached is a fragment of the whole)
I have chosen this link as it has subtitles in English.
To order Der Untergang click here
To order Im Toten Winkel click here
To order Der Untergang click here
To order Im Toten Winkel click here
Notes
1. 1986, Birgel, Franz A, Reitz Edgar, You Can Go Home Again: An Interview with Edgar Reitz, Film Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Summer, 1986), pp. 2-10
2. 1981, Der Spiegel, Rauschhaftes Erlebnis, 38/1981 pp 229-231
3. 2005, Hochstadt, Steve, Film Review, German Studies Review, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Feb., 2005), pp. 241-243
3. 2005, Hochstadt, Steve, Film Review, German Studies Review, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Feb., 2005), pp. 241-243
