I did not know until reading the comments at the IMDb site that winning the FIFA World Cup in 1954 meant so much to a Germany that was building a new, humanitarian society.
I want to add two remarks to what has been said so well by the others.
First of all, I think that "Miracle at Berlin" should be released worldwide with English sub-titles because it has such a good story to tell. It only had Thai sub-titles (not English) here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but I was lucky to understand enough of the German dialog. The theatre manager later told me the Thai sub-titles helped many natives here to enjoy and appreciate this, so he ran it an extra week.
Secondly, it is pleasant to see the Germans in the film express their patriotic pride in such a positive way. For example, it was fun to watch the young woman who agreed to delay her honeymoon so that her sportswriter husband could cover the World Cup in Switzerland. She had cared little about the tournament but in the final match came out in front of the German fans to lead cheers for their struggling team.
Since then it was also a pleasure to see and read how Germany hosted such a successful World Cup tournament in July, 2006, with their theme for visitors from around the world, "A Time to Make Friends." I'm reminded how Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren said he would first read the sports pages for news of human accomplishments before having to turn to the front pages to learn about the failures. Now that so much of the Middle East is once again in flames, we need stories like "Miracle at Berlin" to remind us that sometimes there are still happy endings.
I want to add two remarks to what has been said so well by the others.
First of all, I think that "Miracle at Berlin" should be released worldwide with English sub-titles because it has such a good story to tell. It only had Thai sub-titles (not English) here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but I was lucky to understand enough of the German dialog. The theatre manager later told me the Thai sub-titles helped many natives here to enjoy and appreciate this, so he ran it an extra week.
Secondly, it is pleasant to see the Germans in the film express their patriotic pride in such a positive way. For example, it was fun to watch the young woman who agreed to delay her honeymoon so that her sportswriter husband could cover the World Cup in Switzerland. She had cared little about the tournament but in the final match came out in front of the German fans to lead cheers for their struggling team.
Since then it was also a pleasure to see and read how Germany hosted such a successful World Cup tournament in July, 2006, with their theme for visitors from around the world, "A Time to Make Friends." I'm reminded how Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren said he would first read the sports pages for news of human accomplishments before having to turn to the front pages to learn about the failures. Now that so much of the Middle East is once again in flames, we need stories like "Miracle at Berlin" to remind us that sometimes there are still happy endings.