Das Wunder von Bern (2003)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Sönke Wortmann

Writers:

Rochus Hahn (writer)
Sönke Wortmann (writer)

Release Date:

16 October 2003 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

Plot:

The movie deals with the championship-winning German soccer team of 1954. Its story is linked with two...

Plot Keywords:

German Soccer | Young Boy | Soccer | House Arrest | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

10 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Louis Klamroth	...	Matthias Lubanski
Peter Lohmeyer	...	Richard Lubanski
Johanna Gastdorf	...	Christa Lubanski
Mirko Lang	...	Bruno Lubanski
Birthe Wolter	...	Ingrid Lubanski
Katharina Wackernagel	...	Annette Ackermann
Lukas Gregorowicz	...	Paul Ackermann (as Lucas Gregorowicz)
Péter Franke	...	Sepp Herberger (as Peter Franke)
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)

Also Known As:

The Miracle of Bern (International: English title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | Swiss German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | Spain:7 | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:All | UK:PG | Germany:6 | Netherlands:MG6 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Beek, Duisburg, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Little Shark Entertainment GmbH

Trivia:

While the Lubanski family part of the story is completely fictional, many historic details related to soccer (letters, game results, three players stealing away from training camp, on-the-spot-reports, Adi Dassler etc.) are historical accurate.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: One of the first scenes shows the team of Rahn on a small football ground. In the background you see two cooling towers, a big funnel with the word "SHELL" in white letters and a huge white-painted crude oil tank. Apparently, the film set was in Köln-Godorf with the refinery of "Shell Deutschland GmbH" in the background. Shell Refinery was put on stream in 1960 with one cooling tower (the second was build some years later). Tank No. 7 was build in 1965. In the early-50s, crude oil tanks with more than 100,000 m3 capacity and a diameter of nearly 100m were not technical standard in Germany.

Movie Connections:

References Gladiator (2000)

Soundtrack:

Ja, so fängt es immer an

Incredible movie

This movie is clearly en par with "Die Feuerzangenbowle" or "Der blaue Engel"

In the background it describes the post war Germany, the desperation, the aggression, the losses, the private and public devastation. Fantastic the scene when the train arrives in Essen and all the women anxiously hope that their husband or son will be on that train (many many of them were actually disappointed). Amazing how Soenke shows the game against Austria where he lets children play the actual game scenes on some muddy grass pitch, with the original radio comment running.

In the foreground it tells the story about those 90 minutes which many consider as the turning point for Germany in the 20th century. I was not existent yet but my mother and many others that I know of her generation can still tell what they did during these 90 minutes in 1954. The movie is brilliantly made, with real soccer players as actors (that shows at times, see "The school of rock"). The goals in the final actually happened the way they are shown in the movie. The American movie goers may not understand many of the little details (all the Herberger Phrases are there, Helmut Rahn actually had a severe alcohol problem later in life). They also may not realize the importance of soccer in all the rest of the world ;) which cannot be overestimated.