1939-1962: A World Divided is the English title of a
historical drama which premiered on French
and German television (arte) in 2024. It is a miniseries with six episodes.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** German title: Die Spaltung der Welt
** French title: Les divisions du monde
** Directors: Olga Chajdas and Frank Devos
** Writers: Jan Peter and Jasmin Wind
** Executive producer: Gunnar Dedio
** Multiple languages
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 6 x 52 minutes = 312 minutes
This drama covers the history of the world from 1939 to 1962 with special focus on six real historical persons:
# 1. Three men
** Max Wagner as Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)
A German rocket engineer who worked for Nazi Germany during WW2. After the war, he worked for the US.
** Moussa Sylla as Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)
A soldier, a psychiatrist, and a political activist who was opposed to colonialism
** Denys Rodniansky as Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971)
During WW2, a high-ranking member of the communist party of the USSR. Following Stalin’s death in 1953, he was the new leader of the USSR
# 2. Three women
** Meriel Hinshing as Joan Hinton (1921-2010)
A nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project during WW2. After the war, she became opposed to nuclear weapons. She moved to China where she lived for the rest of her life
** Lara Mandoki as Hedwig Höss (1908-1989)
A German woman who was the wife of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during WW2
** Delia Mayer as Golda Meir (1898-1978)
A Jewish activist who campaigned for the establishment of Israel. After 1948, she was an active Israeli politician. She was the prime minister of Israel 1969-1974.
Here are the headlines of the six episodes:
# 1. Dreaming of the Moon
# 2. A Garden by the Wall
# 3. Holding out at All Costs
# 4. Little Boy
# 5. The Holy Land
# 6. A New Era
The lives of six characters are told in six episodes. But the system is not one episode for each character. The stories of their lives are mixed up.
In the first episode, the focus is on Wernher von Braun, but other characters are also seen in this episode.
In the second episode, the focus is on Hedwig Höss, but other characters are also seen in this episode.
The lives of six characters are covered in six episodes, but these six characters do not know each other. They never meet each other.
They live within the chosen time frame (1939-1962), but they lead separate lives in different parts of the world.
The stories of the six characters are mixed with archive footage from the time and the location where each character happen to be.
The old clips were shot in black-and-white, but for this drama they have been colorized.
The old clips are blended with the new recordings of the actors, and the switch from archive footage to new recordings is seamless. It is hardly noticed.
The six characters live in different parts of the world and speak different languages. Some scenes are set in France or Germany, while other scenes are set in Israel, the United States or the Soviet Union.
When the series was shown on arte tv, the original languages were used. This is (in my opinion) a positive factor, because it gives the series a high level of authenticity.
When the series was shown on the German television channel ARD, all conversations were dubbed into German. This is (in my opinion) a negative factor, because it gives the series a low level of authenticity.
What do reviewers say about this historical drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 80 percent.
What do I think?
What is my rating?
The six characters are well-chosen. Three men and three women from different parts of the world. We have:
** Two scientists = Wernher von Braun and Joan Hinton
** Two politicians = Golda Meir and Nikita Khrushchev
** One political activist who is on the left wing of the political spectrum = Frantz Fanon
** One housewife who is on the right wing of the politicial spectrum = Hedwig Höss
The directors have chosen an unusual way of building a historical drama. Is it successful? In my opinion, the answer is yes and no.
It is successful, when the story is allowed to follow one of the six characters for a while. When they focus on one character long enough for the viewer to feel that we are getting close to this character.
But it is not so successful, when the story is broken too quickly and too often. When the story jumps from one character to the next after a quite short scene. When this happens, the story becomes fragmented.
As the drama moves forward from the first to the final episode, we are getting closer to the six characters. But it seems to me that some of them are getting more screen time than others.
As you can see, this drama has positive elements as well negative elements. When I compare the positive and the negative, I find that the
positive elements are stronger than the negative. But I cannot go all the way to the top.
The rating on IMDb is very appropriate. This historical drama deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCE
The following item is available online:
Marta Balaga,
1939-1962: A World Divided
A conversation with co-director Olga Chajdas
Variety
17 October 2024
*****
1939-1962:
Die Spaltung der Welt:
1939-1962
A historical drama which premiered in 2024
A miniseries with six episodes
*****
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