Comedian Harmonists (1997)

Excellent but underrated film

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Comedian Harmonists tells the story of a famous, German male sextet, five vocals & piano, the "Comedian Harmonists", from the day they meet first in 1927 to the day in 1934, when they become banned by the upcoming Nazis, because three of them are Jewish. Harry Frommermann is a poor, but talented musician writing his own pieces & dreaming of the big success. When he goes to the store nearby & listens to new records he is so deeply fascinated by the tunes that he doesn't even realize that Erna, the young employee, adores him. When the day comes where he can barely afford the food for his parrot, it is time to do something about his situation. He launches a newspaper ad looking for company to found a singing group. He gets to know Robert Biberti & both seem to be on the same level. Soon four other fellows are found. A concept evolves & rehearsal begins. Yes another Hitler movie. But this one is different it's a musical in the great musical art deco age of the 1920 & this movie ends with the persecuted Jews escaping to other countries. The film is big, enjoyable musical biopic of the kind Hollywood used to produce in the '50s. The plot is conventional but high with its production values. The basic story has all the ingredients of a good commercial story: Berlin in its wild, decadent heyday; marital & sexual tensions within the group; a trip Stateside at a crucial point in their career. Add to this a top-drawer cast & you have a very fine enjoyable movie. Some critics panned this movie. I don't know why. It almost seems we saw different films. Six main actors, who bear more than a passing resemblance to the real characters, blend excellently & look comfortable in period costumes & mannerisms: Noethen is very good as Frommermann, torn between love of his homeland & the compromises that keep him there; Becker excellent as the brash, blond Biberti, who sticks by Frommermann to the end; Wiesinger smooth in a tailor-made role as the arranger; & Heinrich Schafmeister quietly impressive Collin, in many ways the rock of the group. Musical staging, which use digitally re-mastered recordings by the actual group, range from the intimate to large-scale, & are briskly staged & cut. The results are excellent. An epilogue reveals what happened to all the Harmonists. One moved to California & eventually became the oldest active cantor in America. Others had a good life also. (addendum I watched this first half of this film with French language. Be sure and switch to German the language it was filmed in. The french dubs were not well syncopated)5 stars.

That piece has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It isn`t that much of a documentary but it`s a fine music film about an astonishing band and more than that, it shows the fearful end of friendship and art the nazis caused with their ways. Everybody should see it, even if you don`t know the group, they do represent the heights of German culture, right before the anti-culturals rose to power. And Germany never recovered...

Telling the tale of a true sextet of German singers who just happen to start their group just before the Nazis begin taking over Germany. It shows their struggle to start and their eventual success and how it affects them and their women and wives. It certainly is a movie which ever one should see, and I will always wonder why this movie was not nominated for an oscar.

It has had a long run in San Francisco, despite lack of much publicity by the distributor, and can still be seen there at the Four Star Theater on Clement Street (415-666-3488). I will see it again for many reasons - humor, historical relevance, fine musical score, and excellent acting/cinematography. The plot shows accurately how many Germans stood up to the Nazi terror as well as they could, and the ending was somber but heart-warming. I'm not surprised that the word-of-mouth recommendations from viewers carried this film to such a long run.