Watching Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland felt like a long, sad sigh

If you have a free afternoon and you don't mind feeling a bit miserable, you should probably watch this. It is for people who like to look at old faces in grainy black and white and wonder what they were thinking about.

If you hate slow movies where people stare out of windows for a long time, you will definitely hate this one. It’s not a fun time at the theater. 🍿

The title translates to something like 'I once had a beautiful fatherland.' It sounds like a poem, and the movie kind of moves like one too, which is to say it’s slow as molasses.

Viktor Schwannecke plays the father and honestly, he has the most tired eyes I have ever seen on a human being. He looks like he hasn't slept since 1914.

There is this one scene early on where they are all sitting around a table. The lighting is weirdly dark, almost like they couldn't afford enough candles for the set that day.

You can see the dust floating in the air during the close-ups. I don't know if that was on purpose or if the studio was just really dirty, but it makes it feel real.

The movie is mostly about how the war just ruins everything for this one family. It’s not like those big action movies we see now; it’s more about people sitting in rooms feeling bad.

I noticed that the costumes look a bit too heavy for the actors. Like they are all wearing wool that is three sizes too big and itchy as hell.

There’s a guy named Alexander Granach in this, and he’s usually great, but here he just kind of blends into the background. I almost missed him because I was looking at a strange bird cage in the corner of the shot.

Why was there a bird cage in that scene? No one ever feeds the bird. It just sits there.

The pacing gets really wonky in the middle. It’s like the editor went out for a smoke and forgot to come back to finish the scene transitions. 🚬

One minute they are talking about the war, and the next, someone is crying in a hallway. I think I missed a title card or something because I got a bit confused about who was related to who.

It reminds me of the mood in Die letzte Stunde, where everything feels like it’s about to end. But this one feels even more exhausted.

There is a lot of patriotic stuff that feels a bit uncomfortable to watch now, knowing what happened later in history. The characters are so proud, but you just want to yell at the screen for them to run away.

The actress Grete Reinwald has a very interesting face. She doesn't do much with it, but she doesn't have to. She just looks sad in a way that feels very 1920s.

I did find myself checking my phone once or twice during the long tavern scene. There are so many shots of people drinking beer and looking stoic. 🍺

It’s not as fast-paced as something like The Race. Not even close.

The film is a bit of a mess, technically. Some shots are blurry, and the camera shakes a little when someone closes a door too hard.

But that’s why I liked it. It feels like a human made it, not a computer or a giant studio machine.

There’s a moment toward the end where the father looks at his old uniform. It lingers for a really long time. Way too long.

It goes from being emotional to being kind of awkward. I started looking at the wallpaper in the background instead of the actor.

The wallpaper had these tiny floral patterns that were peeling off the wall. It’s the kind of detail you only notice when a scene is dragging.

Still, there is something about the ending that stuck with me. It doesn't try to fix everything or give you a happy ending.

It just sort of stops. Like the movie itself ran out of breath.

I wouldn't call it a 'masterpiece' because that word is annoying. It’s just a heavy, dusty, sad movie about a time that sucked for everyone involved.

If you’ve seen Through the Valley of Shadows, you know this kind of vibe. It's that specific type of silent film gloom.

Anyway, the music in the version I saw was just a piano playing the same three chords over and over. It made me want to nap, but in a cozy way.

I think the writers, Willy Rath and Gustav Althoff, were trying to say something big about 'The Fatherland,' but they mostly just showed how war makes people lonely.

It’s a movie for a rainy Tuesday night when you’ve already finished all your chores. Don't expect to feel 'inspired' or whatever.

Just expect to see a lot of excellent mustaches and a lot of heartbreak. That’s pretty much the whole experience. 🎞️

I’m glad I watched it, but I don't think I’ll ever need to see it again. Once is enough for this much sadness.