Review by HALfie

“Heimat” is the first part of the trilogy of the filmmaker Edgar Reitz (Heimat II and Heimat III followed later).

Although  “Heimat” ( A Chronicle of Germany – Heimat I) lasts almost 15 hours and no one wouldn’t be encouraged to watch it, even it is divided in several episodes, this work is something more than a TV series and it’s not for all.

According the translation, "Heimat” means in a extendend sense “Home” included “mother, father, land”,  the place where you ‘re come from, where you grow up, the place at the center of your heart.

Anyway this monumental film tell us about Germany after 1919  until the American incoming, from the point of view of German people; it tries giving us some explanations about reasons of the second WW, seen from the internal front, and witnessed by the character Glasisch.

As the story goes on, the plot change focus paying more attention to the people than the Germany as a nation, changing point of view. The wide lens makes a zoom on characters revealing something more about Reitz’s mind and his nostalgia for his land.

It’s a remarkable attempt to redeem German people and to return them dignity after historical events, maybe neglecting important aspects such as the Holocaust and the National Socialism. Anyway we have to accept that Reitz wanted a film about German people, looking back in the history and looking for the positive aspects about those people.

In fact, someone rightly wrote that Reitz used a “selective” memory in directing “Heimat” not showing the history in a fair way; nevertheless, when we watch it, we should try to avoid making judgments, avoiding to look for guilty or responsibility or shame.

In spite of  “Heimat” has been criticized a lot, it remains an interesting portrait of those years and an important portrait of a nation.