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djw88
IMDb member since January 2010
Reviews
Berliner Ballade (1948)
Historical Interest, but little else
10 May 2010 - 2 out of 7 users found this review helpful.
Made in 1948 in the Western Zones, this adaptation of Neumann's Cabaret piece, is a light-hearted exercise in forgetting. The Otto Normalverbraucher whose journey we follow from the narrative standpoint of a flashback to Berlin from a future metropolis of 2048 is a whimsical look at the post-war hardships and attitudes of a defeated Germany. If you are looking for that famous German self-criticality. you won't find it here. Here you will find self-pity and not one mention of atrocity. It's a farce to be sure, but in more ways than one. The overall style and construction speak of relatively high production values for the time, but it is not a film about contrition, which is a shame because if the times demanded anything, they demanded that.
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