‘Amrum' Review: Fatih Akin's German Coming-Of-Age Tale Set During Final Days Of WWII Is ‘Stand By Me' In Shadow Of Fading Nazi Regime

Yahoo

22-05-2025

An official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Premieres section, Fatih Akin's poignant coming-of-age tale of a 12-year-old boy on a remote German island in the waning days of World War II and the defeat of his homeland's Nazi Party and Hitler, is a side of the war rarely seen in movies. Although the German competition entry in the main competition, Sound of Falling, has gotten all the attention and the hype for the country at this year's festival (it was just picked up by Mubi today), I would say this modest film is far more impressive and moving and should be taken seriously by the Germans when it comes time for a submission into the Oscar International Film race.
Among others, Akin made the terrific arthouse hit In the Fade in 2017 and that is where I really took notice of his filmmaking acumen. However, this one is billed as a Hank Bohm Film Directed By Fatih Akin, a tip of the hat to the veteran director Bohm now in his 80s who had planned to make this film but had to drop out after completing his screenplay. His friend Akin came to the rescue, rewrote the script (they both share credit) and ended up directing. It is based somewhat on Bohm's own experience growing up on the remote North Sea German island Amrum, but is a fictional tale centered on Nanning (newcomer Jasper Billlerbeck), who lives with his pregnant mother Hiller (Laura Tonke), his siblings and aunt (Lisa Hagmeister) in a small house that seems to be the only one still flying the Nazi flag.
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It is nearing the end of World War II and Nazi Germany's quest to rule the world. Hitler is dead but these residents don't really get the actual truth of what happened, and at this point it doesn't matter as much as simply trying to survive with need for bread, food and other necessities. The main industry is growing potatoes and fishing, two things young Nanning helps with at the neighboring farm run by Tessa (Akin regular Diane Kruger in a small role) and with his grandpa Arjan (Lars Jessen) and uncles.
We see him learning how to skin a rabbit and lure an unsuspecting seal to his death among other unsavory duties. He runs errands to try and get his mother, a Hitler apologist, bread, butter, sugar and other necessities all the while still wearing his Hitler Youth uniform, but not really engaged in the political aspects. We never see him project hate or toe the Nazi line. It is just something young boys were expected to wear. Actually, Nanning is a good kid, one who is bullied by older kids on Amrum and accused of not being a 'true Amrumer' since he was born elsewhere. His father, captured as a prisoner of war, is not around, and he has to take care of his mother expecting any day, and then later in the film with a new baby boy. She is typical of these Germans who were simply guided by their leader, and became gullible to the party line, and also bitter about the capture of her husband.
Here is a teaser trailer:
The film's focus is on these people who live far from the action, basically clueless to the Holocaust and other atrocities by Germany during the war that will now cast shame on the country. There are powerful scenes nonetheless such as when Nanning tries to get the local baker (Marek Harloff), a veteran, to give him what little sugar he still has left, but before he does he makes Nanning recite the Nazi Youth pledge, something Nanning only does when the baker refuses to give him the sugar. Another scene has Hillie with her two sons and the new baby begging the butcher (Dirk Bohling) to accept her German cash, but now with the official surrender of Germany, he will only accept American dollars and turns her away.
Through it all Akin's cameras are capturning everything through Nanning's eyes, and the director says his influences are more along the lines of De Sica's The Bicycle Thief and Rob Reiner's Stand By Me. The war may have been very ugly, but Amrum is a beautiful place to grow up, seemingly a million miles away as life goes on, the future unsure, its inhabitants searching for some sort of happiness, and Nanning on the cusp of adolescence.
Billerbeck has never acted before and won a blind audition, and you can see why he was chosen. This kid is a natural and his performance never hits a false note. Veteran German actress Tonke perfectly portrays the bitterness of the Third Reich defeat as she reluctantly burns Hitler's photo and takes down the flag. She was a stout supporter but it has all gone away. Cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub captures the beauty of a place out of time. There is some similarity to the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest which also focused on 'everyday' German life, but that one was set with Auschwitz in the background, smoke rising. In Amrum, the horror seems far far away.
Considering the far right extremist Nazi party managed to get 12 million votes in the recent German elections, a film like Amrum serves as a reminder that this could happen again. The final shot is of an old man peacefully looking at the beautiful Amrum ocean, perhaps showing the calm before a new storm.
Producers of the film distributed by Warner Bros Germany are Akin and Herman Weigel.
Title: AmrumFestival: Cannes (Premiere)Director: Fatih AkinScreenwriters: Fatih Akin and Hank BohmCast: Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke, Lise Hagmeister, Kian Koppke, Diane Kruger, Lars Jessen, Deflev Buck, Jan Georg Schutte, Matthias Schweighofer, Tjard Nissen, Dirk Bohling, Marek HarloffSales agent: Beta CinemaRunning time: 1 hr 33 mins
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