Heimat

[A Lark Ascending]

I saw odd programmes from the first series when it was first broadcast in the UK in the early 90s but couldn't keep up (tucked away at changing late-night times, as tends to happen here). 18 months ago I started working through it on rented DVD and have just finished series 3 tonight.

A breathtaking series. Given how weak UK TV drama has become in the last decade, 'Heimat' stands as a testimony to what is possible.

Three series, with episodes usually 2 hours in length, covering the experience of Germany in the 20thC.

Series 1: From the end of WWI to the 60s/70s.

Series 2: Follows the experiences of a young, avant-garde composer in Munich in the 60s/70s.

Series 3: Takes the latter's story, now a famous conductor, from the fall of the Wall into the reunification years, ending on New Years Day, 2000.

Storylines that go places you don't expect, wonderful acting, amazing photography (the camera is not afraid to just linger on a scene) and marvellous use of music.

This series is just so rich.

If you want something to wallow in for a few months (or 18!!!), this is peerless.

What am I going to watch now?

Edited August 24, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[seeline]

I wish it would be re-broadcast over here, too. PBS had it in the late 80s, then again in the early 90s. Like you, I tried to follow it, but the scheduling was very odd and time slots were ofte changed on short notice, so I never saw more than bits and pieces of it.

Edited August 24, 2008 by seeline

[sidewinder]

German TV did 2 truly great series back in the 1980s - 'Heimat 1' and 'Das Boot'. I've seen all 3 series of Edgar Reisz's Heimat and really liked them all - although 'Heimat 1' was the masterpiece I think. Would like to get all 3 series on DVD. Zweitausendeins usually has reasonable deals on them but so far no really good sale prices on this one. If anyone sees a great sales deal, let me know.

Caught all of them on the BBC but the original transmission of 'Heimat 1' (on BBC2 I think) was the most memorable. Around 1987/88 I think.

All 3 series totally different in focus - the first series centered on Paul/Maria Simon and life in the Hunsruck around WW2, the second series largely on Maria's Munich-based avane-garde composer son and the 60s arts scene and the 3rd series on the next generation and the years around reunification time.

Edited August 25, 2008 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

One of the things that really impressed me about 'Heimat' was how it could be serious, thought-provoking, non-standardised yet never incomprehensible. The whole thing has a narrative drive that can engage a wide audience, yet tackles some profound issues. There are a few moments of total surrealism where things go off into a dream world but these are rare.

My parents were based in military camps just north of the central region of the series (close to the Rhine gorge) so I found the photography fascinating.

I think I enjoyed series II the most - it caught the 'we can do anything' nature of the 60s/70s perfectly. And it was fascinating to watch the inevitable drift of one of the characters towards the terrorist groups of that era. And, of course, the strong musical theme pulled me in.

British TV drama tends to treat history as either a romp or action adventure (think 'Rome' or 'Henry VIII) - and there's clearly a place for that. It's just a pity that commercial pressures prevent taking chances on things that are less standardised. What happened to things like 'GBH'?

[sidewinder]

My parents were based in military camps just north of the central region of the series (close to the Rhine gorge) so I found the photography fascinating.

Went past the area some years ago in a car drive. Looked very under-populated, densely forested, with wind-swept wooded hills as in the series. The Frankfurt satellite airport 'Frankfurt - Hahn' beloved of Ryanair etc. is not too far away.

[Big Beat Steve]

Ha, I'd sure like to hear how a synchronized English version of "Heimat" would sound. :D

Transferring that (fairly authentic) dialect of the Eifel region into another language must be quite a bit.

That said, "Heimat" (the first series) was a fine and very authentic series but you really would have to want to dig into that setting to go through the whole series. When it was first broadcast on German TV back then I watched quite a bit of it with great interest (maybe spurred by the fact that part of the contents could have happened everywhere and sort of reflected what had been told by my parents' generations in my family) and certainly kept me spellbound (though I am no coutnry boy). But from a certain point of time I sort of tired of that overall setting so I did not follow it to the very end of the series. But others (not only those closer to the region where the series was set) evidently felt differently about this as it acquired a legendary reputation even while the series still went on.

On the other hand, I never really got into Pts. II and III of the saga. IMHO they just tried to cram too much "topical" stuff into Pt. III, in particular, trying to grab everything that was current during the times in question and therewith stereotyping everything. Getting first the student revolt/terrorist angle and then all the 1989 fall of the Berlin wall hullaballoo worked into a series that is suposed to grab the viewer's attention just appeared like a predictable attempt at jumping onto every conceivable bandwagon that you can think of. I mean, isn't it rather cliché-laden if TV is UNABLE to come up with an interesting life story that AVOIDS the typical topics of the day? Did every German become a student revolt activist or terrorist/sympathizer at one time and did every German from every part of Germany find himself in Berlin or one or two other "hot" huge cities when the wall came down? It was a bit like depicting a typical American life as taking place either in Manhattan or in So.Cal and nothing whatsoever in between. This is where Part I excelled in showing what life (likely) was like in a small village out in the country and managing to keep things interesting depite being rather subdued in its overall imagery.

Maybe I'm overcritical of that aspect but if you had seen how every German TV drama/series (or whatever) set in the not so distant past invariably involved those two historical aspects you'd tire of it too. Remember you from abroad probably saw only a small part of what has been showered on German TV viewers in that respect over the years )

Just my 2c

[A Lark Ascending]

No synch - subtitles!

Yes, I can see how it might look different internally - in much the way that I read praise for some UK series here that I find very weak. Foyles' War for example, which seems to have cardboard cut-out characters set in the period of our favourite national myth.

I never felt the 'big history' was allowed to crowd too obviously into the overall story. I struggle with a lot of historical fiction because it tends to want to place its characters at all the major events when most people live lives quite distant and only connecting in unexpected ways (unless a world war rumbles along!).

Edited August 25, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[sidewinder]

Interesting take on it, Big Beat Steve

Thankfully, the version of 'Heimat' that was shown over here was in German with subtitles - I dread to think how it would have turned out dubbed. Also no commercial breaks so the presentation was excellent.

Hear what you say re: the tendency to put the big national events centre-stage. I think the reason series 1 worked so well was that these events were a backdrop influencing the various lives and that characters were seen to develop over many years. The action also slowed almost to a crawl at times to bring out some very subtle observations - that change of pace could be very powerful. Something you rarely see on TV these days and which they were good at in the 70s and 80s. TV drama on the whole has speeded up a lot in pace as people now are impatient to see immediate 'action' - to its great detriment, I think. Same thing happened with BBC Drama.

Not much German TV drama gets on UK TV. 'Das Boot' and 'Heimat' are the only ones I can recall ever seeing, sadly. Nevertheless, both got massive critical ratings over here.

[Big Beat Steve]

Hear what you say re: the tendency to put the big national events centre-stage. I think the reason series 1 worked so well was that these events were a backdrop influencing the various lives and that characters were seen to develop over many years. The action also slowed almost to a crawl at times to bring out some very subtle observations - that change of pace could be very powerful. Something you rarely see on TV these days and which they were good at in the 70s and 80s. TV drama on the whole has speeded up a lot in pace as people now are impatient to see immediate 'action' - to its great detriment, I think.

That's what I meant. At times the plot of Pt I of the series did move almost in slow motion but that's what accounted for part of its authenticity and subtlety IMO. And major historical events being the background of the overall story is quite OK - after all these events DID have a huge effect on everybody. But in what I've seen of Pts II and III of the saga, the plot unfortunately seems to have speeded up and the characters were pushed too far into the center of the action - too much so for things to be credible and authentic to the same extent that Pt I had had that "authentic" feel. I'll admit, though, that I may have missed a few finer points of the contents as I've seen only part of those follow-ups (my immediate overall impressions actually were "Not THAT setting again!" and "Is this a follow-up to cash in on the "Heimat" reputation?") As you say, probably the evolution of how TV series are produced (and speeded up) accounted for part of this impression.

[sidewinder]

Totally agree with your comments re: Parts II and III and the resulting lack of credibility with the characters centre-stage in national events. We don't live in a subtle age !

[A Lark Ascending]

Interesting take on it, Big Beat Steve

The action also slowed almost to a crawl at times to bring out some very subtle observations - that change of pace could be very powerful.

I think that is one of the things I loved most about the series. Not just the slow unfolding of the story but the way the camera would linger over landscape. Marvellous moments when you just got a 45 degree ariel view of the hills and woods with just the wind or birds in the background.

I actually think Part II was probably slower moving than part I. It covered about 15 years compared with Part I moving from 1919 to the 70s. And the terrorism element was only a small part of the plot. Like all three parts the focus was very much on the relationship between the characters - and the difficulties people have properly connecting with one another, constantly sliding past.

The overall theme of the powerful draw/alienating effect of a homeland was very well handled. Something I feel very strongly every time a cross the M40. As I grow older I get more and more drawn to the part of England (the south west) where I spent the dominant part of my youth.

Part III was less cohesive. Yet it had a series of unusual storylines that I couldn't see passing the drawing board stage on current UK TV. 'But where do we cast Dawn French/Robson Green?'

[sidewinder]

Likely no-one would be prepared to invest the major £ required from such a series in the current environment - unless it was a 'period' Jane Austen drama that the trans-Atlantics would buy and that the masses would watch. No place for quality minority drama at present - shame. Oh - talking about overcooked period drama I see that they are just about to 'launch' yet another 'Tess of the D'Urbevilles' (yawn).

Heck, they would even have trouble coming up with something as well made and witty as, say, 'Boys From The Blackstuff'. Now there's a topical series that is fit for a remake in these troubled times !

[A Lark Ascending]

Likely no-one would be prepared to invest the major £ required from such a series in the current environment - unless it was a 'period' Jane Austen drama that the trans-Atlantics would buy and that the masses would watch. No place for quality minority drama at present - shame. Oh - talking about overcooked period drama I see that they are just about to 'launch' yet another 'Tess of the D'Urbevilles' (yawn).

Heck, they would even have trouble coming up with something as well made and witty as, say, 'Boys From The Blackstuff'. Now there's a topical series that is fit for a remake in these troubled times !

Absolutely true.

I think it's also part of the current 'nostalgia' zeitgeist - endless remakes of earlier films, evocations of earlier musical periods, 'tributes' to, simplified costume drama versions of 'classic' literature.

In many respects we're lucky in music. The musicians who won't go down that path can still do something different and find ways to get it out. Making something for TV and then actually getting it onto ratings-obsessed TV is nigh impossible if it doesn't fit in with prevailing views of what people want to watch.

I've no problem with TV dominated by easy-viewing...just disturbed that there now seems to be absolutely no attempt to do anything else. Whatever faults 'Heimat' might have, there is simply nothing close in its scope or willingness to look sideways on UK TV.

[seeline]

Pt. 1 is the only Heimat series that made it here, AFAIK - subtitled.

Stations had to move it from prime-time to late night because of complaints about obscenity...

and Bev, I like Foyle's War, though I agree that the characters aren't exactly 3-D. (Though I'm sure I'm missing out on many things that are obvious to you!)

Edited August 25, 2008 by seeline