Juan Carlos Peralta
I have seen this movie on November 2005 in an European Cinema Festival in Lima. It was really excellent, and I'm purchasing it on Amazon.de. The digital making of Wankdorf Stadion in Bern was awesome, and the story was touching. The performing of the final was a surprise, because before it, no football scene had been seen in the movie. Only one mistake: the boy went with his father from Germany to Bern by car (borrowed from a priest), but they returned by train. What happened to the car of the infortunate priest? Nevertheless, if you are a football fan, don't miss it and PURCHASE IT FROM AMAZON.DE!!! The DVD does have Spanish subtitles.
Andreas Niedermayer
As a football fan, this movie appeals to me indeed. It is true-to-history, honestly depicted, filled with genuine and sophisticated acting performances and based on a historical background. The entire plot centers around the boy, Matthias, and tells the story of the 1954 World Cup through his eyes mainly. He makes this movie special and revives the era of the 50s in Germany, a time when this nation was just recovering from the devastation and the scars of WWII. The story is solid and very sincere. The acting is wonderful and the depiction of the contemporary setting is superbly staged. I can just recommend this movie to all football fans and anyone who enjoys pervasive stories that provide first class entertainment.
kraemerdenis
Although I had some very high hopes for this movie, I was utterly disappointed. Maybe I had expected a nice sports-flick like the hilarious "Fußball ist unser Leben", I definitely did not expect such a shallow review of every single German post-war cliché. Count them, they are all there: the shell-shocked husband returning from a decade of Soviet labour camps, the wife who has grown independent in the meantime by having to run the family business plus the family itself, the son turned communist due to disgust for the crimes of his father's generation (and I would have liked to see that person put up communist party posters in a pub in the early 50ies, even in the Ruhr area... tar and feathers, anyone?). Add to that the entire "Wonder" of Bern myth (a fabrication of later decades) and the net result is a not too entertaining fairy-tale. If you want to see a good "sports" movie, watch "Fussball ist unser Leben" or, if soccer is not up your alley, "Major League". If you want to get a closer look at post-war Germany, there are also better movies around.
cirkus01
This movie is clearly en par with "Die Feuerzangenbowle" or "Der blaue Engel"In the background it describes the post war Germany, the desperation, the aggression, the losses, the private and public devastation. Fantastic the scene when the train arrives in Essen and all the women anxiously hope that their husband or son will be on that train (many many of them were actually disappointed). Amazing how Soenke shows the game against Austria where he lets children play the actual game scenes on some muddy grass pitch, with the original radio comment running.In the foreground it tells the story about those 90 minutes which many consider as the turning point for Germany in the 20th century. I was not existent yet but my mother and many others that I know of her generation can still tell what they did during these 90 minutes in 1954. The movie is brilliantly made, with real soccer players as actors (that shows at times, see "The school of rock"). The goals in the final actually happened the way they are shown in the movie. The American movie goers may not understand many of the little details (all the Herberger Phrases are there, Helmut Rahn actually had a severe alcohol problem later in life). They also may not realize the importance of soccer in all the rest of the world ;) which cannot be overestimated.
