Wunderkinder (2011)

The story takes place in Ukraine (Poltava) in 1941 before and during the German invasion. This story is about deep friendship between three musically talented children . Two Jewish children... See full summary »

Director:

Marcus O. Rosenmüller (as Markus Rosenmüller)

Writers:

Artur Brauner (idea) (as Art Bernd), Stephen Glantz

Stars:

Gedeon Burkhard, Natalia Avelon, Catherine Flemming

8 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Gedeon Burkhard	...	Boris Brodsky
Natalia Avelon	...	Rachel Brodsky
Catherine Flemming	...	Helga Reich (as Catherine H. Flemming)
Gudrun Landgrebe	...	Irina Salomonowa
Michael Mendl	...	Aaron Kaplan
Michael Brandner	...	Alexi
Rolf Kanies	...	Oberst Tapilin
Kai Wiesinger	...	Max Reich
Mark Zak	...	Samuel Kaplan
Ingo Naujoks	...	Lehrer
John Friedmann	...	SS-Sturmbannführer Becker
Brigitte Grothum	...	Hanna Reich im Alter
Konstantin Wecker	...	SS-Standartenführer Schwartow
Mathilda Adamik	...	Hanna Reich
Imogen Burrell	...	Larissa Brodsky

Storyline

The story takes place in Ukraine (Poltava) in 1941 before and during the German invasion. This story is about deep friendship between three musically talented children . Two Jewish children both virtuosic and a talented German girl who share a love of music .. Their friendship extends beyond the gaps of different religions and nationalities, The Nazis invasion to the Soviet Union destroyed their world and they and their families deal with death threats War brings with it.

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Plot Keywords:

self sacrifice | saving a life | friendship | jewish | nazi | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | War

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 October 2011 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Csodagyerekek

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$157,362

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARD Degeto Film, CCC-Filmkunst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Narrative Award Winner: 2012

User Reviews

Top film, also for mature children

I suggest you ignore the negative reviews of this film as the writers seem to have an agenda. The script is very good, the acting is excellent and the direction is very good as well.

For children old enough to have learned about the war and the holocaust in school, this is a very useful film as the three main characters for almost the entire film are three children. It is true that at the beginning and end of the film there are scenes in the present day and we see the children now as older adults, however, these two scenes together probably account for less than five minutes from the entire film.

There is one short scene in the film when violence is shown (not involving any children), however, considering it is a holocaust film, that is rather minimal.

Although the Nazis are shown as the monsters they were, we also see it from a slightly different perspective: one of the children is German and one of her parents is sympathetic to the Nazi government, though this parent also shows sympathy to some of the Jewish children.

While this film might be enlightening for young people, it is also well suited to adults. This is not specifically a children's film. Rather it tells an interesting and somewhat unusual story about a specific incident in history (I have no idea if the story is about real people).

If you are interested in this unfortunate period in history, this would be a fine addition to your film library.