伯尔尼的奇迹

The Miracle of Bern (German title: Das Wunder von Bern) is a German film made in 2003, directed by Sönke Wortmann. The film is based on a true historical event. It tells the story of the West German soccer team that miraculously won the title in the 1954 FIFA World Cup held in Switzerland. The film was released in the year after Germany was defeated by Brazil in the 2002 World Cup final co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. When the film was greeted with immense popularity. The film unfolds the story through the perspective of a young boy, Matthias Lubanski, from Essen, West Germany. Matthias’s father served in the Nazi military and was imprisoned in a POW camp in Russia for about 10 years. In his absence, Matthias’s mother runs a local pub and supports three children. Also, Matthias befriends a member of the West German soccer team, Helmut Rahn, who ends up scoring 2 goals in Germany’s victorious final match against Hungary and becoming the hero of the nation. The film contains two main storylines, Matthias’s family and the German National soccer team. The film uses various techniques to connect the experience of the Lubanskis and the entire nation together. Not only does The Miracle of Bern tell the story of the West German soccer team winning the World Cup. It also tells the story of West Germany walking out of the shadow of WWII. Matthias Uecker noted that the Miracle of Bern constructs a nostalgic sentiment toward the period of the economic boom in West Germany after WWII and also the glory of winning the World Cup. In the subtitle of the film Jedes Kind Braucht einen Vater. Jeder Mensch braucht einen Traum. Jedes Land braucht eine Legende. (English: Every child needs a father. Every person needs a dream. Every country needs a legend.), the individuals and West Germany as a nation are already linked. (Uecker) First of all, the family, the Lubanskis, at the centre of the story is representative of West Germany at that period of time. The Lubanskis are set in Essen, a city located in the Ruhr Metropolitan Region, the most import industrial district in West Germany and the pillar of the West German economy. During WWII, a lot of industrial infrastructures were destroyed in the bomber raids in Germany. The economy was also devastated. After the war, the United States government carried the Marshall Plan, intended to help western European countries recover from the war economically. Over 17 billion USDs were provided to rebuild the European economy and modernize the industry. In the first half of the 19th century, large-scale mining and steel production began in Ruhr and Ruhr took off as one of the largest and most famous industrial regions in the world. Alongside the prosperity of Ruhr, many of Europe’s oldest industrial cities started to take shapes, such as Dortmund, Essen, Duisberg and Bochum. Also, during WWII, the heavy industry in Ruhr played a significant role in the German economy. It provided a material and economic basis for the Nazi war machine. After the war, Ruhr played an important role in the economic recovery too. Ruhr can be seen as an icon of German industry and the frontier of economic reconstruction at that period of time. Moreover, the protagonist, Matthias is an average German boy from an average German family. The Lubanskis are representative of the German working-class families at that historical period. Matthias, like many German boys, is enthusiastic about soccer. He is not the most popular kid in school, and he is not very good at soccer either. His father, like many men of that age, served in Nazi military forces. Many of them were killed in action, and the survivors were imprisoned in POW camps all over Europe and Russia. Matthias’s father, Peter Lubanski, survives the war. He is imprisoned in POW camps in Russia. The father encounters a hard time when he just comes back to his family from the Russian POW camp. He sees a different world than the last time he was home. The country he served for no longer existed and he sees a son that he does not recognize. Upon his return, the father still carries the former Nazi ideology. He believes that everyone in the household should follow his rules, fear and obey him. He is also frustrated seeing the family is functioning just fine without him and the women in the household are working. However, the father is traumatized by the war, therefore he is not able to work and provide for the family because the sound of a jackhammer reminds him of a machine gun. What even worse is that he is not able to get compensation from the government. When the father is locked away in Russia, his mother runs a local pub and supports Matthias, his sister and his brother. Like many women who lived in that period of time, she has to be the breadwinner in the household. Almost all men at their prime in that period of time served in the military. A great number of them were killed on the battlefield and many of the ones who returned were unable to work and provide for their family due to severe injury or psychological trauma, like Peter Lubanski. The women in Germany at that time had to step in and provide for their families. In addition, Matthias’s brother and sister are also representatives of the situation in Germany at that period of time. After the war, Germany was split into East and West. East Germany was found in the Soviet occupation zone, and West Germany was established on the former US, British and French occupation zone. The two German states subscribe to different ideologies. Like Germany was divided in two, the two older siblings of Matthias are under foreign influences too. The sister, Ingrid, goes to a party and dances with G.Is. The older brother, Bruno, plays on a band that plays American music. Also, he is angered by his father’s cold, fascist behaviour when the father just returns from the POW camp as well as his Nazi history. He runs away to East Berlin because he believes in everyone is treated equally in the communist state. The split of the Lubanskis in a way signifies the separation of the two German states. Furthermore, not only is the working class of West Germany represented, the middle and upper class also shows up in the film. Annette and Paul Ackermann represent the middle and upper class in Germany after the war. Paul works for a newspaper and writes the sports page. Annette is a spoiled daughter from a wealthy family with high social status. She inherited property from her family and was planning a honeymoon trip to North Africa. The Ackermanns are newly married before the 1954 World Cup. Paul is assigned to cover the World Cup in Switzerland and Annette decides to come with even and take the trip to Switzerland for their honeymoon even though she is no fan of soccer and has no previous knowledge. Moreover, although the odds are not in the West German team’s favour, even the German head coach believes so, Annette demonstrates great confidence in the team and pride as a German, as the soccer team represents her country. Also, the players on the national team are from different places in Germany. The commentator is specific on where each player comes from so everyone in Germany, not only where Matthias lives, is included and represented by the national team. To sum up, soccer is used as an equalizer between rich and poor, men and women, soccer fans or non-soccer fans, estranged fathers and sons. Soccer does not only break the barrier between social classes but also brings people from different parts of Germany altogether. Even when Matthias’s father, who is a very difficult man when he just returns from the POW camp, can get along harmoniously with the son he has never met before through the trip to the World Cup final. The film elaborately uses the story of the Lubanskis and the Ackermanns before and during the World Cup to connect the experience of individuals to the entire nation. Every German celebrates the achievement of the soccer team in the World Cup altogether, as if WWII, which ended only 9 years ago, and its aftermath are already behind them. Unlike the Nasty Girl (German title: Das schreckliche Mädchen), The Miracle of Bern does not raise any heavy questions such as what the people around us were doing during the Nazi period. On the other hand, the Miracle of Bern constructs nostalgic sentiments and creates the illusion of happiness and harmony in postwar West Germany. Throughout the course of the film, music is used to guide the emotion of the audience, during the heated match between the West German team and the Hungarian team or the thrilling moment when Matthias finds his pet rabbits are made into his mother’s birthday dinner. The film resembles a typical Hollywood commercial film and it successfully gained high popularity in Germany, yet the audience is manipulated and absorbed into the story through film techniques. It is made for people’s entertainment instead of meant to trigger critical thinking of the history from the audience.