Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Miracle of Bern (2003)

Director: Sönke Wortmann

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Or 'the film that made Chancellor Schröder cry'. A big hit in Germany, this lachrymose, paternalistic saga sees the world through the eyes of 11-year-old Matthias in 1954. His father returns after 11 years in Soviet prison camps, alienates the entire family with his bossy ways, serves up Mat's pet bunnies for dinner, and banishes his football mad son to his room just as West Germany kick off in the semi-final of the World Cup. Needless to say, he relents in time for the big match. Amusing to see how the sport has changed over the past 50 years (another strand follows the team on their progress), but this is very cosy filmmaking - just compare it with Fassbinder's Marriage of Maria Braun, which climaxes with the very same game. The message here is: 'Yes, we have some things to be ashamed of, but look, we paid the price, pulled ourselves together, and we won the World Cup!' Distribution in the UK would seem unlikely.

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Sönke Wortmann

Producer: Tom Spiess, Sönke Wortmann, Hanno Huth

Cast: Louis Klamroth, Peter Lohmeyer, Johanna Gastdorf, Mirko Lang, Birthe Wolter, Katharina Wackernagel, Lukas Gregorowicz, Peter Franke, Sascha Göpel, Knut Hartwig full cast

Duration: 118 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.