The Miracle of Bern (2003)

A young boy from a working class family in post-war Germany struggles with his estranged father returning from war captivity, while a friend of his plays for the German National Soccer Team at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland.

Director:

Sönke Wortmann

Writers:

Sönke Wortmann (screenplay), Rochus Hahn (screenplay)

Stars:

Louis Klamroth, Peter Lohmeyer, Johanna Gastdorf

9 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 | west germany | deutschland | embroidery | rabbit | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Sascha Göpel was born in Essen, just as the real Helmut Rahn. His grandmother lived in the same street as Rahn, and he also has a childhood photo of himself with the football legend.

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Goofs

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.

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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

Germany in the Fifties

A wonderful little film, "Das Wunder von Bern" succeeds to capture the atmosphere of Germany in the mid-Fifties. The film is not so much about the football world championship of 1954 itself, but about how important this victory became for the Germans themselves. A nation torn apart and devastated by war, disoriented and sad, found new strength and something in which to believe in.

I first feared that I wouldn't like the movie so much as I am a Hungarian myself (the nation West Germany beat in the finals of the 1954 world championship in Bern), but in fact I was rather enchanted by the story. The excellent script brings the characters (above all little Mathias) to life. You start to care about them, to like them, to follow their ups and downs with interest. I especially liked the sensitive approach to the problems a family had to face when the father came back after years as a POW. As many other men in a similar situation, Richard Lubanski first wants to show strength and authority by being cold, arrogant and even violent towards his children - but later discovers that he also has to show his weaknesses and talk about his terrible experiences in war in order to get closer to his family again.

The parallel storyline of newlywed journalist Ackermann and his pretty and snobbish wife Anette was not very closely related to the main story, but I still liked it as the film showed through their lifestyle the beginning prosperity of the "Wirtschaftswunder" (economy miracle) years in contrast to the still bleak world of the industrial and mining town the Lubanski family lives in. And they also added some lighthearted comic relief to the film.

I would very much like people from other countries/cultures to see this film and understand better what Germany went through in these years.I am quite sure that they would not have big problems understanding "Das Wunder von Bern", as its main themes (family, war, traumatic experiences, failure and success) are quite universal.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Swiss German

Release Date:

16 October 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

O Milagre de Berna

Filming Locations:

Beek, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

EUR7,300,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,816,394

Company Credits

Production Co:

Little Shark Entertainment GmbH, Senator Film Produktion, SevenPictures Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1