The German Lesson (2019)

Siggi is in prison during the post-war period. He should write an essay. He remembers that his father was supposed to ban his profession from a friend who was a painter. Siggi should help him, but he rebelled.

Director:

Christian Schwochow

Writers:

Heide Schwochow (screenplay), Siegfried Lenz (novel)

Stars:

Ulrich Noethen, Tobias Moretti, Levi Eisenblätter

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ulrich Noethen	...	Jens Ole Jepsen
Tobias Moretti	...	Max Ludwig Nansen
Levi Eisenblätter	...	Siggi Jepsen
Tom Gronau	...	Siggi Jepsen (als Erwachsener)
Johanna Wokalek	...	Ditte Nansen
Sonja Richter	...	Gudrun Jepsen
Maria Dragus	...	Hilke Jepsen
Louis Hofmann	...	Klaas Jepsen
Artus Maria Matthiessen	...	Direktor Himpel
Marek Harloff	...	Karl Rasmussen
Tom Zahner	...	Joswig
Peter Badstübner	...	Okko Brodersen
Michael Wittenborn	...	Pastor Treblin
Klaus Peeck	...	Deichgraf Ole Bultjohann
Joachim Regelien	...	Hinnerk Timmsen (as Jochen Regelien)

Storyline

Siggi Jepsen is in Germany after the war in an institution for difficult to educate young people. He is to write an essay on the subject "The pleasures of duty", but has no idea. Only when he is locked in a cell the next day, the memories of his childhood during the Second World War break out of him: His father Jens Ole Jepsen, a police officer, was then commissioned to bring the friendly expressionist painter Ludwig Nansen a professional ban , At Nansen's surveillance, Siggi was supposed to help him at the time, but eventually he rebelled against his father, sided with the recalcitrant Nansen and hid some of the forbidden pictures, eventually leading to his stay in the asylum.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

3 October 2019 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The German Lesson

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,152,502

Company Credits

Production Co:

Network Movie Film-und Fernsehproduktion, Senator Film Produktion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Dieses Lied hat keinen Text
Music by Peter Igelhoff
Performed by Evelyn Künneke

User Reviews

Multifaceted movie

I didn't read the original novel, so the story was completely new to me. It is a wartime movie, with a village policeman (initially) forced to prohibit his friend from painting; common practice in Nazi Germany. But the story has many levels: it addresses the conflict of a father/son relationship (with the painter competing for that role) the battle between good and evil (how can any painting be bad for society?), how do we deal with populism in our own age, how can it be that hardened war criminals simply return and continue as before...? The backdrop of the German coast, with constant rain torturing the characters, complements a very intriguing story that forces the viewer to continue to watch.