Die zweite Heimat

I remember watching this - presumably all however-many-hours (26?!) -it-was - on BBC2 as a teenager who had just started learning German. How I long for it to be repeated again. It was a great (though obviously not a commercial) success here in Britain, thanks to the Beeb. Sadly the German public state broadcaster, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), which funded Die Zweite Heimat, chose to relegate it to a very late night slot when it was premiered, so in its own country it is less well known.

Meanwhile, though, if you can read German, try and get a copy of the screenplay. A massive hardback, to read the scripts and directions is just as engrossing as watching the films themselves - and there's some lovely colour and black-and-white stills too.

And if you haven't seen Heimat, the prequel, do so too!

In September 1992, something extraordinary happened at the Venice Film Festival: the festival audience from all over the world enthusiastically celebrated a quality German series.

Don't worry, there's no mistake, even though HBO wasn't supposed to start with the "Sopranos" until 1999. Edgar Reitz consciously conceived his "mini-series" as a long feature film in 13 individual films and, like eight years before with "Heimat", essentially invented the streaming of quality series.

THE SECOND HEIMAT accompanies Hermännche (Henry ARNOLD) from the Hunsrück village of Schabbach, which we had already gotten to know in HEIMAT, to study in the million-dollar village of Munich. And we were able to see how the good-looking village boy sleeps his way through many beds and gradually matures into a composer. We met fellow students of his who had so many talents that they were unsuccessful, and others who very gradually slipped into terrorism. The nights in Munich were filmed in color, while the gray everyday life appeared in black and white.

Six months after the sensational success in Venice, the German television station ARD broadcast the 13 films of this extraordinary film experiment on 13 evenings during prime time with unusually low ratings. And those responsible for the ARD committee really stuck with it, but after that the great era of television experiments on German television was almost finally over. For me personally, DIE ZWEITE HEIMAT was a very important viewing experience at the time. At around the same age as the protagonists in the film, I was still stuck in my small town due to lack of money and was saving up for my long-awaited studies.

Edgar REITZ knew exactly what he was talking about.

This epic brings together a superbly-gifted cast and crew, a narrative depth superior to most novels, wonderful music, philosophy and a connection to LIFE that I find difficult to explain. To immerse oneself in Die Zweite Heimat is for me akin to a spiritual experience, similar to the awe one gets when looking at the stars in a clear night sky. The language, and use of both colour and monochrome segments adds to the dramatic impact. The film inspired me to go to Munich and visit some of the locations, including the Edgar Reitz office. From then on, I vowed to improve my German skills - after Die Zweite Heimat I feel almost German, as if I am in the head of the characters. I also try to match the piano playing of Henry Arnold (Hermann), but this is the one thing that will always elude me ! This drama is unparalleled and I have been fortunate to see it on BBC2 in the UK and SBS in Australia. The sequel, Heimat 3, is currently being filmed in Germany.

Zweite Heimat is a very engrossing film with wonderful characterization. After the first two or three episodes, I became very involved with the characters. Some you love, some you hate. It also gives an insight into German society. The story of a group of students trying to find their place in life is, however, universal. Although I am a second generation American, some of the parents in this film reminded me of my own parents, aunts and uncles whose roots are from Germany. I received the set of videos as a Christmas gift so that I could keep up my German. I have some problems understanding the characters who speak in dialect, but most of them speak "Hoch Deutsch." The subtitles do come in handy, although occasionally the white letters are difficult to see, especially when shown against snow! The photography is beautiful and made me long to visit Germany again.

This film was the most important event in Rome in 1993. The film was shown during 13 weeks in the Movie Theater "Sacher" of Nanni Moretti. A week for each episode. The description of students' life in Germany between 1963 and 1968 was extremely informative and poetic. I cannot mention an episode that I liked best, everything in the 6 episodes I saw was wonderful. The images, the music, the plot, the characters touched the heart. It was very exciting seeing the director and the two main stars in the movie theater one night. Italy did not distribute this film on TV so I want to thank Nanni Moretti to have made the screenings possible. Many people I am sure all over the world would be interested in seeing those movies again...