Berlin '36 Movie Review
Monday, October 3rd, 2011Title: Berlin ’36 Director: Kaspar Heidelbach Starring: Karoline Herfurth, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Axel Prahl, August Zimer One needn’t be a fan of Mike Leigh to know that secrets and lies offer up rich narrative possibilities for filmmakers. So, too, do the allure of nonfiction tales. But not all true stories are created equal, as “Berlin ’36″ emply demonstrates. A German period piece embellishing of the nonfiction story of a transsexual Olympic athlete who stood the chance of greatly embarassing the Nazi regime during the country’s hosting of the quadrennial games, the movie unfolds with such a singular lack of dramatic heft as to almost defy logic. When high jumper Gretel Bergmann (Karoline…
