Miracle of Bern, The

Germany 2003, 118 minutes
Dir. Sonke Wortmann
In German with English subtitles
Rating: [PG]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama, Family

Topics: Sport.

Aroview: Set in grim post-WW2 West Germany, this passionate, if broadly-handled drama respools a backdrop of events leading to the shock triumph of the national team at the 1954 soccer World Cup.

The central drama however concerns a young lad who idolises a local soccer player, hoping to follow him to the World Cup in Switzerland - a dream unfortunately dimmed by the return of his father from an 11-year stint in a Russian prison camp. Disappointingly frugal with an on-field action, this still succeeds in kicking around its rites-of-passage cliches with family-friendly ease.