Directed by:
Matthias GlasnerScreenplay:
Heide SchwochowCinematography:
Jakub BejnarowiczComposer:
Lorenz DangelCast:
Ronald Zehrfeld, Johanna Wokalek, Saskia Reeves, Barbara Auer, Felix Klare, Eva Löbau, Ulrike Kriener, Katharina Wackernagel, Christian Berkel (more)Plots(1)
The adaptation of the award-winning novel by Ursula Krechel tells the true story of a Judeo-Christian family who survived persecution and exile under the Nazis and returns to Germany after the war to try and start over again. But the traumatized parents, and their kids who grew up in England, have a hard time adjusting to life in postwar Germany.
Part 1: Berlin 1938. Richard and Claire Kornitzer are an elegant couple. He's a star judge who tries big cases even as a young man, Claire is a modern woman with a lot of style who founded her own commercial film company. It never made a difference Richard was Jewish – until recently. Now, Richard has been debarred and Claire has lost her company. They reluctantly decide to send their children George (8) and Selma (5) abroad to safety. Soon thereafter, Richard gets a visa for Cuba and has to leave Claire alone in Berlin. The Gestapo seizes her last possessions, preventing her from paying for a visa for herself. She's easy prey for the Gestapo Captain. While Richard struggles to adapt to his exile in Cuba, the kids end up in an orphanage in England as war breaks out, believing their mother is dead.
Part 2: Richard returns to Claire, intent on helping rebuild Germany, restoring justice and the rule of law. But he has to cut through a lot of red tape before he gets a job as a judge again. He's taken aback to see how many Nazi judges have kept their jobs after the war. Meanwhile, Claire is tirelessly searching for her kids, who are lost somewhere in England. Finally, Richard's persistence pays off: He takes on a spectacular case, determined to reach a verdict on behalf of the victims of Nazism. At the same time, Claire tracks down the kids in England. But her hopes for getting their family back together are dashed: George wants to study in Great Britain, Selma wants to stay with her adoptive parents.
(HBO Europe)
Cast
Ronald Zehrfeld
East Germany
Best movies:
Dying (2024)
The Silent Revolution (2018)
Line of Separation (2015) (series)
Johanna Wokalek
West Germany
Best movies:
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
North Face (2008)
Die Kirschenkönigin (2004) (series)
Barbara Auer
West Germany
Best movies:
Herzlich willkommen (1990)
The Book Thief (2013)
Grzimek (2015) (TV movie)
Felix Klare
West Germany
Best movies:
Bis nichts mehr bleibt (2010) (TV movie)
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Eva Löbau
West Germany
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Ulrike Kriener
West Germany
Best movies:
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Katharina Wackernagel
West Germany
Best movies:
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Christian Berkel
West Germany
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Michael Rotschopf
Austria
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Kate Dickie
UK
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Ian McElhinney
UK
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Alexander Beyer
East Germany
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Carlos Leal
Switzerland
Best movies:
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Aljoscha Stadelmann
West Germany
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Moritz Hoyer
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Julia Kranz
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Abigail Rice
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Eszter Tompa
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Lisa Marie Trense
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The Teachers' Lounge (2023)
Because You're Mine (2019) (TV movie)
Landgericht (2017) (TV movie)