Underplayed Gems

Generation War (2013)

Generation War poster
Original title
Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter
Genre
drama film
Country
Germany
Length
1 season, 3 episodes
Rated
TV-14
Rating
8.1 of 10 from 471 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Five German friends in their twenties go their separate ways in 1941 as World War II intensifies. One serves as a soldier on the Eastern Front, another works as a nurse, one pursues singing, and a Jewish tailor faces persecution. The series follows their lives until the war ends in 1945.

somberintensebleakvisceraltragicunflinchinggrittyreflective

What happens

Generation War (German: Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, translated as "Our Mothers, our Fathers") is a 2013 German World War II TV miniseries in three parts. It was commissioned by the public broadcasting organization ZDF, produced by the UFA subsidiary TeamWorx, and first aired in Germany and Austria in March 2013. The series tells the story of five German friends, aged around 20, on different paths through Nazi Germany and World War II: as Wehrmacht soldiers on the Eastern Front, a war nurse, an aspiring singer, and a Jewish tailor. The narrative spans four years, starting in 1941 Berlin, when the friends meet up for a last time before embarking on their journeys, enthusiastically vowing to meet up again the following Christmas. The story's conclusion is set shortly after the end of the war in 1945. When the series was first aired in Germany, each episode garnered around 7 million views. Generation War has generated much controversy. The Economist stated that hardly any German TV drama ever caused so much public debate. Critics have acknowledged the series to be well crafted, intense and unsparing in its depiction of combat on the eastern front. However, aspects such as the portrayal of the Polish resistance movement as anti-semites, the scant depiction of Nazi Germany's objective to purge the Reich of Jews, and the blurring of differences between non-German victims and German perpetrators have been deplored by others. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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