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Rating:  -
The film is great, but I was extremely disappointed because I didn't realize that it is the widescreen version - i.e., it doesn't cover the screen top and bottom. Beware! No wonder it was only $9.99...
Rating:  -
If you thought "Schindler's List" came off a little heavy-handed and patronizing, you are not the only one. I find movies such as "Sophie's Choice" and the "Comedian Harmonists" to be infinitely more effective in relaying the sadness and depressing realities of the Nazi fanaticism. Whereas "Schindler's List" is one numbing horror story after another, the smaller stories mentioned above have the ability to focus the viewers attention and admisration on a smaller range of characters and themes.
Watching this film was simultaneously uplifting and depressing-the fine characters practicing their art while the politics trudge on. The last concert scene is one of the more heartrenching aspects of this film. Hitler's drones allowing one last go-around before the Jews are disbanded from the group forcefully. It's amazing how petty the politics were-ranging from music,literature and artwork. We all know the end result, but it's more interesting to me to see it's effects and roots from a different viewpoint.
The music of course is the big draw here. Good acting and singing easily overcome some of the staid visual direction. Some scenes looked like they were slapped together. The sets were obvious and did not successfully visualize pre WW2 Germany and the depressed economy.
Rating:  -
In 1927 in Berlin, Harry Frommermann (Ulrich Noethen), a poor, talented musician, puts an ad in a paper asking that anyone interested in forming a singing group meet with him. Robert Biberti (Ben Becker) shows up, equally poor but brash, confident, full of drive. Soon there are five of them, plus the piano accompanist. They are all young, all talented singers, all unknown. Frommermann is the creative force, choosing the songs and creating the vocal arrangements. And of the six, three are Jews (including Frommermann), and three are gentile (including Biberti). By the end of 1927 they have become a huge success in Germany as The Comedian Harmonists. The perform in white tie and tails, sing complex harmonies, all sorts of songs, and use their voices to imitate instruments. In the next few years their success extends to Europe and the United States. Some say, even now, that they are one of the greatest vocal groups of the century. After Hitler comes to power they are quickly banned from singing any songs written by Jews. Even so, they believe their popularity will provide them protection. At the end of a successful tour in the United States they debate about returning to Germany, but decide to go back where their friends and families are. In 1934, the group is banned from performing in public, and the Nazis strongly hint that the Aryan members of the group should reform without the Jewish members. Eventually the Jews leave Germany and the Aryan members stay put. Both form new groups but without any particular success. Both groups disband in 1941.
This movie works on many levels:
--It's a clear-eyed view of the growing racist changes in German society after Hitler comes to power. It shows how people didn't want to see what was happening around them. A Jewish music shop owner who has racist slogans painted on her window blames it on kids.
--It tells not only the story of The Comedian Harmonists, but the stories of the individual members. One Aryan who is married to a Jew divorces her as soon as he can and eventually marries the daughter of a wealthy Nazi. The Aryan girlfriend of a Jewish member of the group unhesitatingly converts to Judaism so they can marry in his faith. They eventually wind up in San Francisco in a happy marriage that lasted over fifty years. One Aryan member (Biberti) helped design rocket bombs during the war. One Jewish member (Frommermann) became a U.S. citizen, immediately joined the Army and spent the war years entertaining U.S. troops. One Jewish member after the war became a manufacturer of eye glass frames.
--It resurrects the style and skill of The Comedian Harmonists, who in America have been long forgotten. Throughout the movie the group performs some of their best songs, with the actors expertly lip synching to superbly restored original recordings.
There are many movies which show the impact of Nazism in the Thirties and Forties. I suppose the fate of a successful singing group, in that context, might not be considered worth too much attention. But this is an accomplished movie, with great acting. It is entertaining and enormously affecting. It's a movie well worth having. The DVD transfer is excellent.
Rating: -
The Harmonists is a movie about the real life singing group which rose to fame during World War II. The group was torn apart by the Nazis and ended their brilliant career abruptly.
The movie does a great job of showing how the six men had very different personalities from each other but blended together to create incredible music. There was love and bitterness, friendship and joy. The group focusses on singing for their audience, but in the meantime the Nazi power grows.
There are three Jewish men in the group, and each one looks at his faith differently. There are also Jewish women involved with the men, and each situation causes friction and difficulty. The group gets more and more pressure to abandon its Jewish members.
The group does visit New York, where all but one member want to stay. Because of that one member, though, the group returns to Germany. Shortly after, they are banned from singing and the three Jewish members leave Germany permanently.
The actual group, the Comedian Harmonists, are still considered to be one of the greatest groups in Europe and their records are treasured. If you haven't heard of this group before, be sure to watch the DVD! The musical performances are a real treat and the story is quite moving.
Rating: -
The time and place is Germany as Hitler is coming to power. The story centers on the genesis of the Comedian Harmonists, a group of five singers and the piano player who accompanies them. We can't be sure how much of the story has much truth value, but we do know that the Harmonists were a real group and their music was much appreciated, and remains so even today. They are called "comedian" because of their lighthearted and humorous approach to the music they sing.
The founder of the group is a jew, Harry Frommermann. He is a talented singer/arranger and his vision is to bring together an exceptional group of men to sing "jazzed up" and highly stylized versions of popular songs. Harry is a perfectionist and the first third of the film shows him first cajoling and then badgering his singers to develop a musically unique and visually entertaining style. He succeeds beyond even his ambitious dreams. Soon the Comedian Harmonists are a feature act in demand not only in Germany, but internationally.
Unfortunatley for the Harmonists, Hitler comes to power in 1933, just as the group is headed for true stardom. Jews in Germany are beginning to feel the impact of the racial hatred that will end in the holocaust. Of the six members of the Harmonists, three are jews and as the story progresses, first restrictions and then cancellations of their concerts prevent the group from finding an audience in Germany for their work. They head to New York and find success there. Harry would like to remain in America, but the rest of the band still believes there is a chance for some success in Germany, so they head home again.
The Harmonists' error in judgment is typical of the mistake of many jews in Germany who thought they only needed to patiently wait for reason to return to their country. At the end of the film we see the Harmonists on stage in Munich performing to an audience that knows that something very special is being lost to them. The Harmonists disband and the jewish members escape to freedom. The group left in Germany tries to reconstitute the band, as does the group that leaves, but they do not experience the success of the original members.
If it were not for the music, which is truly first-rate, this story would be interesting, but not worth four stars. Because the music is so much a part of the film, those viewers who enjoy vocal singing at its very best are sure to enjoy this unusual film.
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