The Harmonists


3/4

Starring: Ulrich Noethen, Ben Becker, Heino Ferch, Heinrich Schafmeister, Max Tidof

Rated R (inexplicably) for Some Nudity

“The Harmonists” is closer to a misfire than it is an unqualified success, but the problems that hamper the middle portion of the movie are outweighed (albeit barely) by the film’s successes.  The film tries to be more than a typical “history of a band” film like “That Thing You Do!” but the content that it adds to flesh out the characters is clichéd and uninvolving.  Still, the music is great, and the final act has real power.

The film details the history of The Comedian Harmonists, an acapella harmony music group that soared to popularity all over Europe before it disbanded due to persecution by the Nazis.  Out of work actor Harry Frommermann (Noethen) gets an idea to form a vocal harmony group.  He casts auditions and shortly thereafter ends up with five other singers, and they form The Comedian Harmonists.  The difference between them and The Revelers (who influenced Frommermann) is that the Harmonists used their voices to mimic the sounds of instruments and used comedy and irony in their songs and routines.  Soon after they were formed in 1928, they became famous all over Europe, but the persecution by the Nazis (three of the six members were Jewish) forced them to disband.

The performances are all fine.  Ulrich Noethen is a good leader and a sympathetic person, while Ben Becker has great presence and appeal as Robert Biberti, the other head of the group.  Meret Becker is a solid love interest as well, displaying chemistry with both Noethen and Becker.

The problem with the film is that the middle portion is about the romantic rivalry over Erna (Meret Becker) between Harry and Robert.  For such a unique musical group the decision to spend most of the running time detailing this romance would be a letdown even if it wasn’t dreadfully boring (which it is).  I’m positive there would be more worthwhile material that director Joseph Vilsmaier and his screenwriters could have explored while still accomplishing the goals of fleshing out the group members (actually, only Harry and Robert are fleshed out…we hardly know anything about the other group members).

The film picks up in the third act, when the rise of the Nazis threatens the band.  The material is more propulsive, and the film is better focused.  The decision that the band members must make of whether to stay in America or go back to Europe is compelling.  There’s also a tinge of sadness at the end.  Ultimately, the power of the final act redeems the lackluster middle portion.

The music is great, but the using the real Comedian Harmonists’ music to dub over the actors is not done particularly well.  There are times when the dubbing is obvious; that being said, considering the complexity of the music, it was unavoidable.  But the song choices don’t highlight the band’s uniqueness.  The songs have little irony and there are only a few instances where they are allowed to imitate musical instruments.  Also, the film doesn’t effectively portray their popularity.  We hear them talk about how popular they are, but we never see it.

This film is difficult to review.  While there are some laudable qualities to the film, there are also some big problems.  Yet, ultimately, I think the final act is strong enough that the film warrants a mild recommendation.

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