The Miracle of Bern

Herald rating: * *

The sharp historical and cultural divide between England and Germany may be measured by the critical reception in each country of this film about Germany's 1954 football World Cup triumph.

The film, whose title refers to the improbability of the German victory, is a rather lacklustre affair, an assemblage of visual, character and narrative cliches that feels like a kidult movie.

Its main character is sweet, freckled and soccer-mad 11-year-old Matthias (Klamroth), whose life is upended when his father (Lohmeyer) returns unexpectedly after a decade in the Soviet gulags.

Hard and embittered, he mistreats Matthias, whose existence he never knew of, and much of the film focuses on the slow building of their relationship.

Meanwhile, we follow the German football team as it makes its stumbling way to cup glory.

The on-field sequences are very convincing, which is very rare for a dramatic film.

Otherwise it's a predictable, romanticised telling that is sure to appeal to football geeks who will notice that the man who outfits the Germans with new-fangled boots is called Adi Dassler, although he has not yet invented the brand adidas.

It's handsomely designed, but mercilessly sentimental and as shallow as a puddle.

CAST: Louis Klamroth, Sascha Gopel, Peter Lohmeyer
DIRECTOR: Sonke Wortmann
RATING: PG, adult themes
RUNNING TIME: 117 mins
SCREENING: Rialto Auckland, Hamilton from Thursday