The Miracle of Bern (2003)
"Das Wunder von Bern" (original title)

The movie deals with the championship-winning German soccer team of 1954. Its story is linked with two others: The family of a young boy is split due to the events in World War II, and the ... See full summary »

Director:

Sönke Wortmann

Writers:

Sönke Wortmann (screenplay), Rochus Hahn (screenplay)

Stars:

Louis Klamroth, Peter Lohmeyer, Johanna Gastdorf

10 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Louis Klamroth	...	Matthias Lubanski
Peter Lohmeyer	...	Richard Lubanski
Johanna Gastdorf	...	Christa Lubanski
Mirko Lang	...	Bruno Lubanski
Birthe Wolter	...	Ingrid Lubanski
Katharina Wackernagel	...	Annette Ackermann
Lucas Gregorowicz	...	Paul Ackermann
Peter Franke	...	Sepp Herberger
Sascha Göpel	...	Helmut Rahn
Knut Hartwig	...	Fritz Walter
Holger Dexne	...	Horst Eckel
Simon Verhoeven	...	Ottmar Walter
Jo Stock	...	Toni Turek
Martin Bretschneider	...	Hans Schäfer
Christian Broos	...	Werner Kohlmeyer (Im Endspiel)

Storyline

The movie deals with the championship-winning German soccer team of 1954. Its story is linked with two others: The family of a young boy is split due to the events in World War II, and the father returns from Russia after eleven years. His problems in getting back to normal life are shown, with references to his children and wife. The second story is about a reporter and his wife reporting from the tournament.

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Plot Keywords:

soccer | german soccer | boy | post world war two germany | west germany | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Swiss German

Release Date:

16 October 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

A berni csoda

Filming Locations:

Beek, Duisburg, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€7,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$96,149 (Switzerland) (31 October 2003)

Gross:

$12,660,891 (Germany) (28 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Little Shark Entertainment GmbH, Senator Film Produktion, Seven Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man who introduces the new shoes (with screw-on spikes) to the coach is initially referred as "Adi". Later, his last name is revealed as "Dassler". He was the founder of Adidas, the sports wear company.

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Goofs

The closing credits state the team winning the trophy in Bern ("die Elf von Bern") never played together again. In fact, the Bern team played one last match together, which was a benefit game 15 years after the victory.

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the closing credits one can hear the original radio reporter signing off from the stadium in Bern.

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Connections

References Gladiator (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Ja, so fängt es immer an"
(Siegfried Ulrich)
Performed by Rita Paul
With permission of Musikverlag Melodie Froboess und Budde KG
Courtesy of BMG Berlin Musik GmbH

User Reviews

Quite Entertaining, especially for Germans

"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.