Deutschlandlied: Schicksale der Nachkriegszeit is a historical drama in three parts which premiered on German television (ZDF) in 1995 to mark the 50-year anniversary of the end of the war in 1945.
The story is set in the fictional town of Königsbruck, not far from Frankfurt. The time is May, June, and July 1945. The end of World War II.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** English title: A Song of Germany: Post-War Fates
** Director: Tom Toelle
** Writers: Peter Märthesheimer, Pea Fröhlich & Tom Toelle
** Music: Nikolaus Glowna
** Language: German (occasionally English)
** Subtitles: None
** Released on DVD in 2014
** Run time: 86 + 94 + 107 minutes = 287 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Ulli Philipp as Anna Mahlmann – a widow
** Julia Brendler as Betty Mahlmann – Anna’s daughter
** Matthias Habich as Konrad Schuhbeck – a Social Democrat
** Katja Riemann as Lisa Schmidbauer – a young woman
** Thomas Schendel as Theo Schmidbauer – Lisa’s husband
** Heino Ferch as Hanno Schmidbauer – Theo’s brother
The second group
** Suzanne Borsody as Gertrud Sternke – Hermann’s wife
** Matthias Gnädinger as Hermann Sternke – Gertrud’s husband
** Fabian Busch as Paulchen Sternke – Gertrud & Hermann’s son
** Juliane Kosarev as Hannelore – Gertrud & Hermann’s daughter
** Peter Ehrlich as Count von Hellnstein – a local aristocrat
** Francis Fulton-Smith as Lieutenant Mike Stone – an officer in the US Army
** David Ramsey as George – a private in the US Army
As stated above, this is a historical drama, a fictional story placed in a historical context.
In this case, the historical context is the fictional town of Königsbruck during the last few days of the war in May and the first days after the war in June and July 1945.
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. This is why I am not going to say much about what happens in this movie. But I have to mention a few details in order to explain and justify my rating. Apart from that, I will only tell you how the story begins.
The end of the war means different things to different people: for the Social Democrat Konrad, it is a relief. He has been in hiding for a long time. He has only survived because the widow Anna and her daughter Betty have secretly been giving him food.
For the Sternke family, the end of the war is a disaster. Hermann is a leading member of the Nazi Party. His world is falling apart. His family was well off. Now everything is going to change for them.
Lisa is married to Theo, a soldier who is missing in action. She has not heard from him since 1943. She does not know if he is dead or alive.
But Theo’s brother Hanno is in town. He and Lisa are very close. In fact, Lisa is pregnant with Hanno’s child. What will happen if Theo comes back?
For the US soldiers who liberate the town, the end of the war means that they are no longer an army fighting the enemy. Now they are an army of occupation. They must organize a civilian administration in order to build a new Germany.
For everyone, the transition from war to peace is difficult, but we can see that some people – for instance the count – know how to adapt to the new situation much faster than others.
This is how the story begins, and this is where my presentation ends. If you want to know what happens to Anna, Betty, and the people around them, you will have to watch the drama all the way to the end.
What do reviewers say about it?
Here are some results:
On IMDb it has a rating of 80 percent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment 19 ratings of this product, 4 with reviews.
The average rating is 3.8 stars which corresponds to a rating of 76 percent.
If you ask me, both ratings are quite appropriate.
Why?
The story is captivating, dramatic, and emotional. While fictional, the story is placed in a historical context, which is - to a large extent - realistic.
There is much to like here. But I cannot go all the way to the top with this product, because there are at least two flaws. Let me explain:
# 1. The first flaw concerns the character George who is played by David Ramsey. George is a black man, an African-American.
While African Americans served in the US Army during World War II, they always served in all-black units, commanded by a white officers.
There was not a black soldier in a white unit, as we see in this drama. The armed forces of the US were racially segregated until 1948.
The presence of a black man in a white unit is simply not realistic, not authentic. This is no trivial matter, because George plays a significant role in this drama:
In the beginning of the drama, he saves the lives of Anna and her daughter. After this event there is a special bond between them.
Soon, George falls for Betty and she falls for him, but this relationship is doomed from the start, because this is Germany 1945: a white woman cannot date a black man. It is not done. Not accepted.
I assume the movie-makers placed the character George in the movie in order to create some drama and some tension.
On one level, this plan works very well; on another level it does not work at all, because his presence in the US army unit is not realistic.
# 2. The second flaw concerns the end of the drama. In my opinion, it is not quite successful. As you can gather, there are several story-lines in the movie.
While some of them find a conclusion, others are left hanging in the air (literally, because the final scene includes a hot-air balloon).
If you ask me, the ending could (and should) have been better.
I like this movie and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws, which cannot be ignored.
I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS. The cast includes some famous German actors. Some of them are even more famous now than they were back in 1995.
** Matthias Habich (born 1940) is known for his role in Nowhere in Africa (2001)
** Katja Riemann (born 1963) is known for her role in Rosenstrasse (2003)
** Heino Ferch (born 1963) is known for The Tunnel (2001), Das Adlon (2013) and Ku’damm 56 (2016)
*****
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