Generation War

[MHP]

Did anyone catch this on Saturday. I caught the review on the Wright Stuff today and thought I give it a try.

The series tells the story of five German friends, aged around 20, on their different paths through Nazi Germany and World War II: As Wehrmacht soldiers on the Eastern Front, war nurse, aspiring singer, and Jewish tailor respectively. The narrative spans over five years starting in 1941 Berlin, when the friends meet up for a last time before embarking on their journeys, enthusiastically vowing to meet up again the following Christmas. The story's conclusion is set in a time shortly after the end of the war in 1945/46.

The series has been a big hit in Germany which is odd for WW2 based material, they like to avoid that subject matter... (I believe that Saving Private Ryan wasn't released there). I think the reason for it popularity is the perspective it takes. The story is told from the point of view of non Nazi Germans and how each of them dealt with the Third Reich ideology their country followed at the time.

If you loved movies like Stalingrad and Das Boot like myself then this will be right up your street. If you ever wondered why a whole nation of Germans did what they did 70 years ago then you will find this interesting. I hope the next two instalments are as good as the first.

Don't let the subtitles put you off, anyone who has seen the dubbed version of Das Boot knows how that can ruin a great film.

[flipper321]

British Airways have had it on their video on demand system for a little while, unfortunately when i tried to watch it the english subtitles packed in half way through the first episode! My A-level German failed my from that point on. Up to that point it was certainly developing interestingly so I'll pick this one up again i think.