Das Wunder von Bern (English title: The Miracle of Bern) was released in 2003 and tells the story of Matthias, a young boy, and his family in 1954. Matthias is made the bag carrier and lucky mascot for his local football team by top player Helmut Rahn. Meanwhile, Matthias' father, Richard, returns after many years from a Soviet Prisoner of War camp. Far from a reunited happy family, the film depicts a family in turmoil after Richard's return. Richard has no interest in football, a pointless game, or the World Cup that was to be held in Bern, Switzerland that summer. It is Matthias' dream, however, to be at the World Cup with his idol Rahn, who has been chosen to play for the German football team, a group of part-time players that faced professional teams. Matthias' passion for the football and his fighting spirit helps to rekindle his father's passion for life. The 'miracle' of Bern is therefore two-fold - West Germany's World Cup win and also the reunification of a family.
Germany's 'miracle' victory over Hungary in the World Cup Final was an important development in German history and also for German identity after the Second World War. The success of the German team led to the collective German feeling of 'Wir Sind Wieder Wer' (we are someone again), and aided two generations in their coming to terms with the past. The two generations are presented in the film as Richard and Matthias, and the bond that develops between them through football can be seen as a mircochosm of German society.
Das Wunder von Bern is an excellent example of 'Alltagsgeschichte' (every day history) that features in many German films. The experiences and struggles of Matthias' family is typical of post-war Germans: living amongst the rubble, the absence of fathers, returning Prisoners of War, the shame and trauma of the past and father and son relationships. The film presents a 'normal' family that the older German audience could relate to. Football is also the stuff of everyday people, it is easily accessible and not political or intellectual. However, it can be argued that the film's focus on the World Cup jeapordises the 'Alltagsgeschichte' and the ability of the audience it identify with the film. The World Cup match is presented as a kind of myth, with 'signs' before the match that a miracle would happen, such as the German team being the stereotypical underdogs, rain suddenly falling from 'heaven' and the apparition of Matthias at the final match. These cliches draw an emotional response from the audience, rather than an intelligent or critical response whereby the audience would reflect upon the situation in Germany after the War.
The audience is also encouraged to identify with the characters in the film through repeated use of camera close-ups on the faces and emotions of the actors. The viewer experiences much of the film through Matthias' eyes, he is a typical young boy and the audience would be able to identify with many aspects of his life. Richard represents one of many thousands of German men who were held in Soviet prison camps and then returned home years later to find that they could not simply fit in to their old lives again. He is not a likeable character at first, he is cold and distant, appears weak, isolated and psychologically damaged. The audience feels a sense of pity for Richard as a victim, they are not encouraged to also consider that Richard was also a perpetrator in the War. Richard's mental breakdown, or 'defeat' is played out as the German football team lose their first match. In order to win the World Cup, the German team must first accept their defeat and be able to move on, just as Richard must share his experiences and reveal his weaknesses in order to have a successful future with his family. As Germany's spectacular victory is shown, the real miracle of the story happens - the developing bond between Richard and Matthias. Today we would label Richard as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - but should we feel sympathy for him? Can emotional empathy function as historical understanding? Christa, Matthias' mother, is also an identification figure. She is a strong female character, who brought her family through the war while her husband was a prisoner. She is pleased when Richard returns but there is also a sense of trepidation, as Christa gains no recognition for all she has done for the family. This situation is also comparable to the role of women after the War in Britain. They took over traditionally male roles during war-time and were then expected to relinquish all authority and ideas of independence upon the return of the men.
A further 'Wunder' is also depicted in the film - the Wirtschaftswunder (Economic miracle) of the 1950s. Adi Dasler and his trainers are portrayed and represent the creative capitalist spirit that created the Wirtschaftswunder. The Ackermann family embody the effects of the Economic miracle through their exotic holidays, fashionable clothes and modern house.
It is very interesting to note the differences in the DVD covers of the German and English DVDs.
The English DVD cover focuses on the football miracle featured in the film, and the tag line states 'Every nation needs a legend...' The German version focuses on Matthias and his father, and the 'miracle' of their relationship. The tag line is also different - 'Jedes Kind braucht einen Vater' (every child needs a father). The German audience is therefore invited to identify with Matthias and his story, the English audience with the football team. Does this reflect on the English perception of Germany? Or perhaps the German perception of the English? To watch a German film, must the English audience first be enticed by football?
Is the 'Hollywood effect' again shown in this film? The name of the film alone demonstrates the stereotypical Hollywood happy ending.
References:
Film - Das Wunder von Bern. Dir. Soenke Wortmann, (Germany, 2003)
Jordan, Stefan, 'Der deutsche Sieg bei der Weltmeisterschaft 1954: Mythos und Wunder oder historisches Ereignis?' http://www.sehepunkte.de/2004/06/6462.html (12/12/2009)
Seitz, Norbert, 'Was symbolisiert das "Wunder von Bern"?' http://www.bpb.de/DSVSJU.html (12/12/2009)
Your blog made me think that I ought to know more about German film, so I dipped into a book of film theory. This said that immediately after the War, West-German film makers were still trapped in a national socialist mind-set (living in a fantasy world). In the early 1960's there was a revival of German film, and film-makers faced-up to the Nazi past. This movement ended in 1982 (so the book said), and I was then left wondering what happened to German film after 1982. Is German cinema peddling fantasy again, like in Hollywood? I haven't seen the film you write about but it does seem to be soft-centred nationalistic fantasy, rather than reality.
ReplyDeleteYour comment has given me an idea for my next blog - the history/development of German film and cinema.
ReplyDeleteAlot of German films do seem to reflect the time that they are made in, rather than the time they are set in. Take, for example, Das Wunder von Bern. It is set shortly after the Second World War, when Germany had been divided in to East and West and was occupied by the Allies. The German people felt shame due to their national socialist past, they did not feel that they could or should feel pride in Germany as a nation. The victory in the World Cup and the economic 'miracle' were, perhaps, the beginnings of regaining some kind of nationalistic pride.
The film, however, was released in 2003. During this time the German people were still coming to terms with their national socialist past, the role their Grandparents played in the war - were they victims or perpetrators? Germany was now reunified - could they yet feel pride as one nation? I believe this film tries to instill a sense of national pride in Germans through the past - not the national socialist past of history books, but an alternative history, the history of everyday people through the everyday sport of football, and the economic miracle of the 1950s that allowed West Germany to rebuild after the war and become the nation it is today.
I've seen 'Das Wunder von Bern' a few years ago and I agree with you when you talk about the cliches developed in the film. I think the audience is meant to feel a strong emotional empathy with the characters and in a way it prevents us from having a critical point of view about the events presented in the film. We are not really compelled to stand back from things and I would have liked the director to make 'Richard' talk a bit more about the way he experienced war because although it is obvious in his behaviour that he is weak and psychologically damaged, he does not speak a lot, even to his wife, and apart from his attitudes, we do not really know what he actually thinks or feels.
ReplyDeleteSarah, would the nationalist myth-making in this film be explained or justified by the fact that a reunified Germany was scheduled to host the World Cup Championship just a couple of years after its release, in 2006?
ReplyDeleteI have decided to discuss Soenke Wortmann's film Das Wunder von Bern, as it fits ... wcwunder.blogspot.de
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