The Happy Years of the Thorwalds (1962)

Original title

Die glücklichen Jahre der Thorwalds

Directed by

John Olden, Wolfgang Staudte

Genre

drama film

Country

Germany

Runtime

1h 29m

Rating

9.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film shows a German family at two different times. The first gathering is in 1913 before World War One and the second is in 1932 just before the Nazis take power. It contrasts their hopeful past with their troubled future.

melancholicbittersweetnostalgiccontemplativedramaticelegiactensesomber

What happens

The Happy Years of the Thorwalds (German: Die glücklichen Jahre der Thorwalds) is a 1962 West German drama film directed by Wolfgang Staudte and John Olden, starring Elisabeth Bergner, Hansjörg Felmy and Dietmar Schönherr. It is based on J.B. Priestley's 1937 play Time and the Conways, with the setting shifted from Britain to Germany. It portrays two family gatherings - the first in 1913 during the German Empire before the First World War and the second in 1932 in the dying days of the Weimar Republic before the Nazi takeover. It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios in Hamburg and on location in the city. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Mathias Matthies and Ellen Schmidt. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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