Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
Jonah Abbott
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
mdm-11
The true story of one of the greatest singing groups ever to hit the scene during the World Depression Era is effective in showing Berlin during imminent Nazi take-over, but seems to focus mainly on the issue of religion. Other than debating who's Jewish and who isn't, there is a preoccupation with the services of prostitutes, and marrying the same once successful.The group member with the initial idea to "do something" is shown eating bird seed, implying he can not even afford groceries. Once gathered, the ensemble rehearses for months without pay, for the sheer chance at eventual success. Of course they do make it big; too big for the liking of certain political party sympathisers.For fans of the original music (including the FDR Presidential Campaign song "Happy Days Are Here Again") this film delivers. Many of the legendary tunes are worked into the plot. The "naughty" suggestions in "Veronika, der Lenz ist da" are accepted by even respectable upper class theater guests, paving the way for recording contracts and world stardom of the newly discovered "Comedian Harmonists".This German/Austrian co-production filmed in German has high production values. The setting reminds of "Cabaret", however the story (although based on true events) is rather thin. The overuse of some of the above mentioned situations becomes unnecessary and boring. As a viewer with a background extremely partial to this story I looked for detail and could see several obvious embellishments for the sake of drama. There must have been more than wine, women and song to tell about. The final minutes somewhat redeem the earlier shortcomings, delivering a tear-jerking love story along with sad good-byes amidst still-cheering audiences
Mort-31
Joseph Vilsmaier is Germany's Steven Spielberg. He is the routinier. He can make a film about anything, and you won't notice that it's his movie. Still, everybody knows Vilsmaier because there are only few movies he made and all of them were made a lot of fuss about because they were supposed to be great epic tomes that costed a lot of money. This movie about the famous a-cappella-band Comedian Harmonists is just the same. It's long and it tells a true story; nothing special. Vilsmaier tried to combine six biographies, which could only go wrong. The musical scenes are the only pleasant change in this movie. But even they show that the money spent for the production was not invested in quality: we hear the original voices of the Comedian Harmonists through the mouthes of the actors – but we don't believe in a second that it's the actors who sing.
punkrockerzero
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...
Gecko-13
Comedian Harmonists is truly a masterpiece! It shows that many Germans suffered under Hitler and the nazi regime too! But I can't understand why this great movie is rated R in US? The German rating is 6(!)! In my opinion especially young children should watch "Comedian Harmonists" to learn more about humanity and the hard life in hard times.
