Heimat













We've been watching, as a family, Heimat over the past month - I've been pleasantly surprised at how Nathalie as got into the series and Janis (having made her watch the second series during its TV run in the early nineties) has also been a keen watcher.

It's fascinating to watch a country's history during the most turbulent century of the last half a dozen through one extended family's experiences.

From Paul Simon returning home from the western front in 1918 through to Hermann Simon being the first member of his family to get a place at University in the late fifties. What is interesting is the way that Edgar Reitz shows how the apparently banal can become fascinating television.

It is also interesting to read about how the series, and the subsequent two series, were received in Germany. Because of the events of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars the German people have difficulty discussing that part of their history, the fact that some people did well during the between the war years, albeit from the extra work that was going into making the arms build-up to the Second World War possible. Reitz handles this well, with Maria's family profiting from the war whilst her in-laws and her two children adapt in the way I think most families did, they simply got on with life.

As I write there is just one DVD to go, the final three hours and then I think we'll have a break before starting with Heimat 2 or Zweite Heimat as it is known in Germany.