Germany: A Summer's Fairytale (2006)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

As Good As It Gets

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

In the course of four weeks (June 9 until July 9, 2006) Germany was nothing but a huge party. Celebrating the fantastic achievements of our national soccer team.Sönke Wortmann, the director of this documentation, accompanied the team during this time. "Deutschland - Ein Sommermärchen" gives us a glance behind the curtain.The beginning is at the same time the most tragical moment. The defeat against Italy along with the grieving players and coaches.Afterwards the movie chronologically goes the way from the training camp until the semi - final. We are able to see the players in their training sessions, tactical discussions among the coaching staff, and lots of fooling around from the young players like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. We can see that a team was growing. We can see the intense sense of community and solidarity among them.The documentation doesn't focus on the soccer scenes alone. However, it doesn't neglect them. We see the goals again, the enthusiastic fans, the hilarious atmosphere which infected the whole country.I'm glad we also see a lot of what happened apart from the football ground. It's interesting to see what happened in the dressing room while we (the fans watching on TV) were fetching another drink or going to the toilet or whatever we did during the breaks.Altogether I can recommend this documentation to everyone who had fun in the great summer 2006. And I recommend it to everyone who considers the Germans to be some non-smiling accurate work-robots.It was a unique experience. A whole nation was backing up its soccer team. National flags were waving from every car, every house. It was, as if Germany had completely changed over night. That's why we call it a summer fairy-tale - "Ein Sommermärchen".

Hello, I am a huge Michael Ballack fan and of course, a fan of the German soccer team. It broke my heart to watch them lose against Italy and thus, lose their chance to win the World Cup.I live in the US, and so haven't yet watched the German documentary: 'Deutschland. Ein Sommermarchen' and it's also very difficult to find any information related to this film.Does anyone have an idea about when the DVD release of this documentary is slated for? Has a release date been announced yet? I hope that it would not be too far into the future. I would appreciate any web-links or information. Thank you.

I saw this movie on Friday and I found it to be very amusing and interesting. I consider myself as a huge fan so I was thrilled to see a halftime speak of the coach during a game or how the team management successfully created a brilliant team spirit. Meanwhile people in the cinema cheered when Germany scored or Lehmann saved a penalty, it was a little bit like during the world cup. Wortmann did a great job in silently observing the German team, so you really felt as you were a part of this whole great event. Finally I'd like to say that everybody that enjoy the world cup as much as I did and who took part in the whole public viewing thing should go and watch this movie. It brings back the feelings and memories of the wonderful (soccer) summer. It was really a summer-fairy tail.

Wortmann's "Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen" does not really contain anything you would've missed watching the World Cup on TV (in Germany), it does not contribute additional in-depth information about tactics or any other part of the German team's methods - yet it does a good job at summing up an event millions won't forget. Its arguably strongest scene is right at the beginning, showing the team crushed in the dressing room right after losing the semi-finals to Italy. Other than that it follows the German team throughout the 2006 World Cup, showing many nice anecdotes and avoiding any criticism of the team itself, true to Klinsmann's spirit.