Reportedly the highest-rated show in the history of German television, this gripping miniseries is set against one of the most controversial events of World War II: the 1945 saturation bombing of the German city of Dresden by Allied forces. The three-hour production narrows its focus to a romantic triangle involving German nurse Anna Mauth (Felicitas Woll), her surgeon fiancé Alexander Wenninger (Benjamin Sadler), and fugitive British pilot Robert Newman (John Light). The tragic (and, many argue, unnecessary) destruction of this once-beautiful city is captured in truly harrowing detail, combining realistic fire effects and miniature work with state-of-the-art CGI technology to create the first realistic depiction of the Dresden bombing ever to appear on film (shot on location, with meticulous specifics gleaned from recent historical findings of both German and British scholars). Truth be told, the romance is really more of a narrative peg on which to hang the larger story involving the bombing and its immediate consequences, but the actors contribute affecting performances and director Roland Suso Richter effectively mixes individual human tragedy within the larger epic. DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, and archival military footage of the actual bombings. Recommended. (E. Hulse)
Dresden
Koch, 2 discs, 180 min., in German & English w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.98 Volume 23, Issue 3
Dresden
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