Wonderful sequel-series to 'Heimat', 12 Sep 2005

By	Jason Parkes "We're all Frankies'" (Worcester, UK) - See all my reviews

The thirteen episodes here take us from 1960 to 1970: 'Part One: 1960 - Hermann (The First Songs)'; 'Part Two: 1960 - 1961: Juan (A Stranger's Eyes)';'Part Three: 1961 - Evelyne (Jealousy & Pride)'; 'Part Four: 1961 - 1962: Ansgar (Ansgar's Death)';'Part Five: 1962 - Helga (Playing With Freedom)';'Part Six: 1963 - Alex (Kennedy's Children)';'Part Seven: 1963 - Clarissa (Christmas Wolves);'Part Eight: 1964 - Schnusschen (The Wedding)';'Part Nine: 1965 - Fraulein Cerphal (The Eternal Daughter)';'Part Ten: 1966 - Reinhard (The End of the Future)';'Part Eleven: 1967 - 1968 - Rob (A Time of Silence)';'Part Twelve: 1968 - 1969 : Stefan (The Time of Many Words); and 'Part Thirteen: 1970 : Hermann and Clarissa (Art or Life). We see Hermann from a different angle as we saw him towards the end of 'Heimat' - in the intial series Anton pounded at his door as his affair with an older girl was uncovered and meddled with by Maria. Now we see Hermann from his room, as he swears to leave behind Shabbach and the Hunsruck and never to love again...

The action takes up shortly after when Hermann arrives in Munich and pursues the life of an artist, as a musician to a backdrop of change. The whole Beatnik/New Wave thing was kicking in, as well as the avant-directions of people like John Cage - this in turn gives way to rock'n'roll (The Beatles), politics (Kennedy), and the hippy-age - something associated heavily with the Baader-Meinhof gang in West Germany (I predicted Helga would end up as a member of the Baader-Meinhof gang - the time and her temprament seemed suited for it!). Each episode works as wonderfully as a film, as with the original series, I loved it all, but the episodes that stood out for me were 'Evelyne' (charming, lovers stuff), 'Helga' (quite comic really), 'Reinhard' (set in Venice with the divine Esther), & 'Hermann & Clarissa' - which span round coincidence and fate, reminding me of Kieslowski...

The acting, mostly by musicians, is wonderful - the characters and performances suitably rich - I particularly loved the performances of Henry Arnold (Hermann), Salome Kammer (Clarissa), Susanne Lothar (Esther), Noemi Steuer (Helga), Franziska Traub (Renate), & Gisela Muller (Evelyne). But everyone's great really, and I loved the pace of the films, as well as the presence of much music (though some continuity issues seem present watching the second series after the first- would Hermann have turned up with two-female lovers at Maria when still married and living with Schnusschen? for example). But as TV series go, 'The Second Heimat' towers over just about everything else...I can't wait to watch the episodes over again...

Each episode deserves a 1000-words, but space gets in the way of that; regardless, 'The Second Heimat' is as obligatory viewing as its predecessor and things end neatly as Hermann greets Glassich on the edge of Shabbach. Like Hermann, 'Heimat' returns from the city to the village once more with the third series coming soon on both DVD and the BBC...

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Heimat: Art and Love, 14 Aug 2005

A sound reference point in deciding could well be your appreciation of the work of writer/director Edgar Reitz because the setting of Heimat 2 is very different. You will also have to have a liking for classical music and at least be willing to try 60's avant-garde. Music is never the centre of focus for long at a time, but it is a constant. Personally, I found it best to split the early episodes into two viewing sessions, but once I got into it, I was really hooked. The other art form which figures largely is film-making.

The main character in Heimat 2 is Hermann Simon, musician, academic, and at 19 bursting to get away from his Hunsruck home and go to Munich to study music. Following the thwarting of his first love affair, he has vowed never to love again and dedicate himself to his art. Hailing from a small town in Bavaria, Clarissa Lichtblau, cellist, has done the same sort of thing and the stop-go entanglement between these two is a constant theme in the story, which is told in thirteen episodes and subtitled "Chronicle of a Generation". This generation is comprised of students in the arts and humanities and a common theme is disaffection with home.

The structure used is to give each of the main characters a chapter in which they play the narrator. This brilliant innovation allows us into the thoughts of the character - difficult in film. The whole work spans a mere decade and is mostly set in cities and towns, Munich and several of the students' hometowns including Ammersee, but also Venice. It's beautifully done and the sight of all the traditional Bavarian architecture is a treat. Reitz undoubtedly has a way with stairwells.

Another thing I really admire about him is his restraint in the use and portrayal of sex, death and violence. For instance, a deliciously erotic scene is composed of the following - an attic room with improvised lampshades, one man, three women, Beethoven and Chopin played on an old upright piano, ointment for a truncheon wound on the man's back and cream cake. As far as I could tell, the only item of clothing removed was the man's shirt, for the application of the ointment.

Heimat 2 is strong meat. By the end, three main characters are dead, one from natural causes following alcoholism, one through an accident and one most likely through suicide. There have also been two other attempted suicides and a fourth life hangs in the balance following a shooting by the police. The piece is haunted by the Nazi past.

Although there is plenty of angst during the three years at university, the subsequent years of trying to make a living are more difficult. Erstwhile friends go separate ways and even become jealous rivals, feminism arises and marriages break down, one of the women mutates from poet to political activist to terrorist.

Hermann marries Schnusschen, an airhead from his own village, because he's sick of bluestockings. This mistake coincides with the breaking up of the group, but is also the occasion for a welcome visit from the Hunsruck. To the reception come Schnusschen's father, Hermann's Aunt Pauline (with reluctant grandchild in tow) and Great-aunt Marie-Goot. Hermann has changed so much in four or five years away that they seem like beings from another world and the encounter is very funny.

Why "Heimat" when all there seems to be is fragile friendship and the shifting sands of sexual attraction? Heimat cannot possibly refer to a series of rooms or flats either and the retreat, Foxholes, was denied the group following unacceptable behaviour at Hermann's wedding reception. Perhaps going to university just postpones the sense of isolation for a few years after which a sense home is mere memory.

The saddest figure is Juan, the Chilean, whose Bach on marimba fails to gain him admittance to the Munich Conservatory. Multi-talented and entertaining, Juan is loved by everyone, fancied by no one and the first to suffer isolation.

One of the most uncomfortable is Elizabeth Cerphal, owner of Foxholes, whose taste for the cutting edge blends badly with her Nazi heritage.

Is there a lighter side to Heimat 2? Yes, there's Renate, Bavaria's Barbara Windsor, who begins as a law student, tries acting and ends up doing cabaret. Similar is the larger than life Hungarian, Frau Moretti, who sings in Hermann's piece for chamber ensemble and eight vacuum cleaners. The philosopher, Alex, bald and gangling and completely lacking in emotional intelligence, sets out to prove whether a true friend will always lend you money, or, is he just a sponging layabout? Schnusschen originally works as a tour guide in Munich. On one occasion she stops the coach outside Foxholes and pops in to see Hermann. The tourists, Americans, wander in to be treated to an impromptu history of the house by Elizabeth Cerphal, in her element.

Hermann, besides being attractive to women, also draws father figures. Two of these offer to leave him money or means to continue with his exploration of electronic music. Another shows him a portrait of his mother, painted in the Nazi-derided decadent style. Other likeable older people are Clarissa's mum, Helga's drunken granny and certainly the mainstay of Foxholes, housekeeper Frau Ries.

I will leave you with a taste of my favourite jam session, at Foxholes. Hermann, at the piano, has set a piece of Helga's word play to music and is singing it, badly. From an adjacent room emerges Evelyne Cerphal, newly arrived niece of the house, in a pink nightie. In her wonderful deep, rich voice she captures the piece and, at the end, everyone in the room joins in, in harmony, in tune.

A bit unlikely? So are some elements in the final episode, but it's great art.

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The second heimat, 5 Oct 2005

The first episode is absolutely stunning, brilliantly filmed and great music on it too. It also shows many other characters, also how Herman and other music students experiment with new sounds. As well as filmakers,a philosopher, all devolping ideas and sharing their thaughts. Edgar Reitz roughly based this on personal experiences, himself as a young filmaker singed to find new ways of experimenting with cinema.

Forget about the price or length, buy this and you won't know how you lived without it.

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