Smartorhypo
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
LouHomey
From my favorite movies..
BroadcastChic
Excellent, a Must See
warstrikesback
In the course of four weeks (June 9 until July 9, 2006) Germany was nothing but a huge party. Celebrating the fantastic achievements of our national soccer team.Sönke Wortmann, the director of this documentation, accompanied the team during this time. "Deutschland - Ein Sommermärchen" gives us a glance behind the curtain.The beginning is at the same time the most tragical moment. The defeat against Italy along with the grieving players and coaches.Afterwards the movie chronologically goes the way from the training camp until the semi - final. We are able to see the players in their training sessions, tactical discussions among the coaching staff, and lots of fooling around from the young players like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. We can see that a team was growing. We can see the intense sense of community and solidarity among them.The documentation doesn't focus on the soccer scenes alone. However, it doesn't neglect them. We see the goals again, the enthusiastic fans, the hilarious atmosphere which infected the whole country.I'm glad we also see a lot of what happened apart from the football ground. It's interesting to see what happened in the dressing room while we (the fans watching on TV) were fetching another drink or going to the toilet or whatever we did during the breaks.Altogether I can recommend this documentation to everyone who had fun in the great summer 2006. And I recommend it to everyone who considers the Germans to be some non-smiling accurate work-robots.It was a unique experience. A whole nation was backing up its soccer team. National flags were waving from every car, every house. It was, as if Germany had completely changed over night. That's why we call it a summer fairy-tale - "Ein Sommermärchen".
mittch
In summer, I watched the World Championship with enthusiasm. Having heard that director Sönke Wortmann were with the German team and would make a movie, I was really interested and expected fascinating impressions "from back office". But the result is disappointing: Jürgen Klinsmann is shouting and motivating the team all the time, the players are really engaged, joking around or answering simple questions and the games are repeated once again in short versions with all goals. But there are no views on the players' relations (except the competition between Lehmann and Kahn), moments of conflicts or controversies have found no way into the movie (perhaphs, there was nothing than harmony...) and no one in the film is really portrayed as an individual. The movie is an documentary which could have been made by any DFB official (German Football Association) who wants to produce a big seized promotion video. Maybe, Sönke Wortmann earns enough money to work on a better movie in the following time...
webwude
After watching the trailer, everyone, who had the chance of participating the world cup this summer in Germany, wishes to watch this movie, especially, if you are a German team sympathizer.What do you get: 108 Minutes of an intense look of a great team with a lot of young, but talented soccer players from Germany, all the way from about three weeks before the opening match to the last match of the team, the "Third Place match". It isn't an usual documentary, you only get the main events during the match of the German team.The movie begins after losing the semifinal against Italy, just watching sad and disappointed players. Then, the whole journey is told, from the fitness training over the first group matches to the finals. You'll see some funny events during this time, a lot of interviews with both players and staff. You also get the chance to see the last words of the coach before the matches start.Almost everyone, who watched this movie, felt the atmosphere of those fantastic four weeks here in Germany. You may need to be interested in the sport to enjoy this movie. More than that, you should know at least the main characters (coach Klinsmann e.g.). Otherwise you will have some problems to understand some of the events taking place during the movie.Bottom line: Midfielder Frings said at the end of the movie: "we (the team) should have deserved more" (meaning more then the third place). After accompanying the team through this movie, you probably say: "you're definitely right". As viewer, you will realize the broken dream, but you will enjoy this movie.
dreamer.ice
Wortmann's "Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen" does not really contain anything you would've missed watching the World Cup on TV (in Germany), it does not contribute additional in-depth information about tactics or any other part of the German team's methods - yet it does a good job at summing up an event millions won't forget. Its arguably strongest scene is right at the beginning, showing the team crushed in the dressing room right after losing the semi-finals to Italy. Other than that it follows the German team throughout the 2006 World Cup, showing many nice anecdotes and avoiding any criticism of the team itself, true to Klinsmann's spirit.