Generation War
ZDF, Germany
Written by Stefan Kolditz.
Directed by Philipp Kadelbach
Foreign language films/dramas aren’t often seen on British television. Unfortunately, it’s something that I think comes with the “it’s okay, everyone speaks English” attitude that many people hold. After the success of ‘The Killing’, a few more foreign series have graced our screens including ‘Generation War’. It was the story of five friends, split apart as a result of the Second World War and forced to live very different lives to the ones that they were accustomed to.
The three 90 minute episodes span five years of the war and take the characters and their situations through the most turbulent scenes imaginable. The series begins on the eve of the German attack on the Soviet Union with the friends meeting for one final knees up, promising to meet again at the same place at Christmas. Wilhelm and his brother Friedhelm serve together on the Eastern Front, Greta starts her career as a singer, whilst her Jewish lover Victor is deported to a concentration camp, and Charlotte serves as a nurse at a hospital near to the two brothers.
Although historically inaccurate (or improbable) at times, the costuming, story line and effort is faultless. The risks taken to stay alive, and at times pure chance that helps the characters, keeps you hooked from the start to the end of every episode. I think I could watch another 10 episodes and still be left wanting more. It is a truly fabulous attempt at showing the effects of the war on everyone, including those groups of people not often reported or remembered. The need to survive takes the five young people to places and mindsets that couldn’t have been dreamed of in the first 10 minutes of the drama.
Review by: Alex Backhouse
thefortiesfloozy.com