Die Bertinis (1988)★ 8.2/10

XWG · 436 min · October 31, 1988 · 1 seasons

• Drama

Directed by: Egon Monk

Written by: Ralph Giordano, Egon Monk

Critically acclaimed five-part miniseries based upon the family story of novelist Ralph Giordano. In 1897, Italian immigrant Giacomo Bertini and his Swedish wife Emma decide to stay in Hamburg, while Rudolph Lehmberg marries the young Jewish girl Recha Seelmann. Twenty years later, the Bertinis' son Alf, an upcoming pianist, gets to know Lea, the Lehmbergs' daughter. Although Lea is a talented musician herself, she decides to marry Alf and support his career. At the beginning of the 1930s, the couple realizes that Alf's dreams of becoming a music star were illusions. Lea tries to earn money to feed her three sons Roman, Cesar, and Ludwig. The Nazi takeover in 1933 changes everything because Lea and Alf's relationship is now considered to be "intermarriage". They have to fight against discrimination and hate in the new "Aryan" society. The family finally fears deportation to a concentration camp and hides in a cellar in inhuman conditions.