Goldene Zeiten – Bittere Zeiten: Die Geschichte einer Bürgerfamilie is a historical drama in 20 episodes about a German middle-class family during the years 1920-1945.
This drama was shown on German television (ARD) in the 1980s and released on DVD in 2016.
Here is some basic information about it:
** English title: Golden Times – Bitter Times: The History of a Middle-Class Family
** Director: Michael Braun (1930-2014)
** Writers: Michael Braun, Heinz Pauck (1904-1986) & Helmut Pigge (1919-2000)
** Language: German – no English subtitles!
** Run time: 20 x 50 minutes = 1,000 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Peter Schiff (1923-2014) as Fritz Vollmer (the father) – a barber
** Ilona Grübel (born 1950) as Viktoria “Vicki” Vollmer (the older daughter)
** Jocelyne Boisseau (born 1953) as Susanne Vollmer (the younger daughter)
** Alexander Radzun (born 1952) as Walter Bielstock (Viktoria’s first husband) – the son of a general
** Wolf Roth (born 1944) as Dr Robert Wolf (Viktoria’s second husband) – a journalist
** Gernot Endemann (1942-2020) as Werner Bomback (Susanne’s husband) – a chef
The second group
** Walter Buschhoff (1923-2010) as Mr Rodeweil – a bank director
** Heinz Schubert (1925-1999) as Oswald Klein – a cabaret artist
** Margot Leonard (1927-2014) as Annette Seidelmann – member of staff, Park Hotel
** Lukas Ammann (1912-2017) as Mr Winter – director, Park Hotel
The third group
** Evelyn Opela (born 1945) as Olga Vesela – co-owner of Moldau Film
** Hélène Arié as Marie Claire Vancourt (a French woman)
** Vernon Dobtcheff (born 1934) as Mr Bernard (a French man)
** Claudine Coster (born 1939) as Madame Bertaux (a French woman)
The fourth group
** Karin Eckhold (1938-2018) as Rita Moreno – an actress
** Miguel Herz-Kestranek (born 1948) as Manuel Hohler – a musician
** Gisela Trowe (1922-2010) as Frau Bielstock (Walter’s mother)
As stated above, there are 20 episodes.
Here is an overview:
Season one
Golden Times
** Shown on television in 1981
** The time frame is 1920-1933
** Episodes 1-11
Season two
Bitter Times
** Shown on television in 1984
** The time frame is 1933-1945
** Episodes 12-20
Golden Times – Bitter Times is a historical drama, a fictional story placed in a historical context. In this case, the historical context is the history of Germany and its neighbours during the years 1920-1945.
The main location is the German town Baden-Baden, formerly known as Baden. This is where the Vollmer family lives and works when the story begins in 1920. Some of them are still there when the story ends in 1945. Other locations are Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Marseilles, and Switzerland.
Occasionally, the story is written so that one of the fictional characters is closely connected with a significant historical event. Here are three examples:
** The assassination of the German politician Matthias Erzberger (born 1875) in August 1921
(Walter)
** The Locarno Conference in October 1925
(Susanne)
** Aktion T4, the secret German program for euthanasia (1939-1941)
(Walter and his mother)
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama.
I will only offer a brief introduction and tell you how the story begins:
Viktoria, who was born ca. 1895, is the older daughter of Fritz. During World War One, she worked as a nurse close to the front. In 1920, when she is ca. 25, she returns to her home town Baden-Baden where she joins her sister and her father.
Susanne, who was born ca. 1905, is the younger daughter. In 1920, she is ca. 15. She is still in high school.
Fritz (the father) is a barber, who has his own shop. He was born ca. 1870. In 1920, he is ca. 50.
His wife, the mother of the two daughters, is never seen: she left the family to be with another man several years before the war began, perhaps in 1910.
In this drama, we follow the Vollmer family during a period of 25 years, from 1920 to 1945.
At first, Germany is known as the Weimar Republic; later, it is known as the Third Reich.
As you can see from the chart above, the list of characters is quite long. The key characters, members of the Vollmer family, come into contact with all of them in some way and at some moment in time.
Some contacts are friendly, while others are not so friendly. Some relationships can last, while others cannot; for different reasons.
The Vollmer family is a symbol of Germany. What happens to this family is a mirror image of what happens to Germany:
** At first, there is peace
** Then, there is conflict
** Finally, there is war
The family is torn apart by micro-politics in the same way as the whole country is torn apart by macro-politics.
This is how the story begins, and this is where my presentation ends.
If you want to know what happens to Fritz, his daughters, and the people around them, you will have to watch the historical drama all the way to the end.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 75 percent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment 27 ratings of this product; including 20 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.1 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 82 percent.
In my opinion, both ratings are too low.
Why?
This drama is more than thirty years old, and sometimes it shows, especially in the beginning. When you watch the first episode, it feels a bit dated.
But after a while you will get used to it, and soon you will no longer think about it. Why not? Because the story will capture your attention.
When you get to the end of one episode, you will want to watch the next episode in order to find out what happens.
The key characters are credible. None of them is all good or all bad. There are some good and some bad elements in all of them. In other words: they are realistic. They are human.
This story is not painted in black-and-white. Nor is it predictable. We do not know who will survive until the end of the war in 1945.
Having made these positive remarks, I must add that the drama is not perfect.
There is a minor flaw concerning the age of the actresses who play Susanne and Viktoria:
(1) Jocelyne Boisseau was born in 1953. In 1980, when season one was filmed, she was 27. But in episode 1, she is supposed to be 15!
She tries hard to seem young, but does not succeed. Who can blame her? It is not her fault. An actress who is 27 should not be asked to portray a character who is 15.
The movie-makers should have used another actress for the first few episodes when Susanne is still a teenager.
When we get to episode 7, we are in 1925. Now Susanne is 20. She is still seven years too old for the role, but at least the age gap is not so obvious anymore.
When we get to episode 11, we are in 1932 and Susanne is 27. Finally, the actress has the right age for her role.
(2) There is a similar problem with the actress who plays Viktoria. Ilona Grübel was born in 1950. In 1980, when season one was filmed, she was 30. But in episode 1, she is supposed to be 25!
When we get to episode 7, we are in 1925 and Viktoria is 30. Finally, the actress has the right age for her role.
As you can see, there are some flaws, but I will regard them as minor. I have decided that they will not have any influence on my rating of this product.
I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS # 1. The main language is German. But French is spoken in a few scenes. When this happens, there are subtitles in German.
PS # 2. Regarding subtitles: as stated above, there are no (optional) subtitles on the DVDs.
This is another minor flaw. There should have been subtitles in German for those who are hard of hearing and for those who wish to improve their German language skills.
In addition, there should have been subtitles in English for the foreign market.
What a shame!
PS # 3. Here is an interesting detail: in the drama, Susanne Vollmer and Werner Bomback are married to each other.
In the real world, Jocelyne Boisseau and Gernot Endemann, who play these characters, were actually married to each other for a while.
PS # 4. Magere Zeiten is a historical drama in 16 episodes set in post-war Germany; the time frame is 1945-1948.
This historical drama was shown on German television (ARD) in 1978 (and released on DVD in 2012). It starts in 1945 where Goldene Zeiten – Bittere Zeiten ends.
The people behind the drama from 1978 are the same: the trio Michael Braun, Heinz Pauck and Helmut Pigge. But the characters are different.
*****
Magere Zeiten
A historical drama which premiered on
German television (ARD) in 1978
It was released on DVD in 2012
*****
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