User Reviews

"Die Freibadclique" or "Summer of '44", a totally different English title here because the German original title means something like "The Open Air Swimming Pool (or Lido) Gang", is a German television movie from 2017, so this is neither a particularly new nor old film we have here. I am a bit surprised this is a Czech co-production because nothing really implies this inclusion. Anyway, let's take a look at the basics: This one runs for 105 minutes, so much longer than the usual approximately 88 minutes for German television films and there you can see already that this one here was a, well... let's call it a "more spectacular project" than your average German small screen release. The director is Friedemann Fromm and he is also credited as a writer here. He adapted Oliver Storz's novel and frequently it is the case that the writer od the original book only has one film credit or so, but Storz is really an exception because he has been a highly prolific screenplay writer himself. He is no longer with us and did not live to see this movie, but he already started working on scripts back in the early 1960s and he also directed a film here and there. Anyway, I have not read his original work here, so I cannot say anything about the quality there, but I have a feeling it is probably not a lot better or worse compared to this film. As for Fromm, the man in charge behind the camera, he also made movies in the old millennium already and taking this into account I must say I am a bit baffled by how bland this project here turned out overall. Pretty shocking to see it received some awards recognition even. Well, I guess I know the reason. this film is set during the years of World War II as you can also see in the international title and sadly some peopl are stupid enough to say that this background is enough to call it a historically significant film and say it is worth watching. I could not disagree more. Not just with this perception when it comes to this film here, but in general. The setting is alright and I am pretty fond of some movie set during that time, but there is no way this bacground is enough on its own. You also have to deliver a good story, interesting characters and overall strong production values. This is not the case here at all. One parallel that came to my mind pretty quickly is how not too long ago the movie "1917" was a really really successful film and deservedly so. It tells us the story of two young men and their mission during World War I when the fate of a whole company is in their hands. This film showed howw it is done to depict a convincing and thrilling story of survival and have mostly young actors at the center of the movie and they are the ones who also add their fare share and make it work. Here it is the exact opposite. I mean I would not blame the younger actors too much here honestly because the script was so uninteresting most of the time that it was virtually impossible to make it work, but admittedly they also did not exactly elevate the material and the awards recognition (I think for the one who looks like a really young Michael Shannon, without the talent though) is just a bad joke. These kids (or their characters) felt completely interchangeable from my perspective. I never felt an emotional connection with any of them that really would have made me care if they live or die, what happens next to them etc.

There were recurring themes in terms of the young woman wearing almost nothing except a bright red outfit that covers the crucial parts and also a moment that felt like repeating itself when we see one character stand up there and look down at the masses near the swimming pool while he is (not) about to jump into the water. This was definitely meant in an artistic way, both of these moments, but it all felt very much for the sake of it. The beginning is already a good example of how you really cannot expect a quality film here. There is this scene in the pouring rain where we see one character from the gang who is soaking wet. Then the action goes back a year or so. So this was a bit of a preview moment. It is not uncommon at all they use these moments early on in the film to make us curious how things unfold and how this situation actually happens. This is what they were going for here as well. But it is so shallow and uninspired that I am sure nobody who watched this film really cared why the boy was in the pouring rain there. All for the sake of it and it shows that you really have to dig deep here to find creativity whatsoever. There were moments/scenes I liked nonetheless. Andreas Lust is always a welcome inclusion for me as I like the actor. He is third credit here and that is also pretty much fake because he is only in one scene in the first third of the movie and is never seen again afterwards. It makes sense with his character, but still it was such a waste of a good actor really and the boys couldn't carry the film on their own. The final shot back at the classroom I liked as well. We see those who survived the war and it is an awkward situation. The normal aspect of a classroom packed with student who see each other first time after the holidays and this is a pretty harmless scenario, but they went through a lot more during these "holidays". When the teacher asked where they left off last time, it was a nice moment to end the film and that's whyt they did. There the absurdity of it all sure works better than with the (German) title. It also sounds really harmless setting the fun aspect of an open air swimming pool against the crulties of ar that happen during this film. However, the problem is that the gang mentioned there is just not interesting enough. I already said the characters feel interchangeable all the time and even when some of them die, others fall in and out of love while everybody is fighting for survival (especially during the actual battle scenes that felt so subpar and not once had me on the edge of my seat), I never felt for any of the characters. Maybe it's just me, but I doubt it. I think the other reviewer is also correct for the most part. And finally, one area that really bothered me here is also the use of sexuality. I already mentioned the girl in the red bathing suit. That is far from it all. We find out about one commander having sex with another commander's wife and a blackmail scenario resulting from it. There is that dark-haired woman in the middle of the movie who seduces one of the boys while actually thinking of the guy on the photo when she has sex with said boy. At the end, there is another female character who has a lot of screen time, the one with the red or redish hair, but she added even less, although by then I just wanted the film to be over, so I did not care one bit about her either. The first half was still slightly better, but it all goes south really quickly afterwards with the military action I mentioned earlier. Can't remember the last war movie I watched where they managed to turn these actually action-packed moments into utter boredom just like they did here. So never really in doubt for me to give this film a thumbs-down and negative recommendation. The soundtrack is also on the cringeworthy side with how much it emphasizes the slightly more dramatic moments and shows us that this film (despite convincing gravity) takes itself completely seriously from beginning to end. It's not a failure, but still one you certainly want to skip. The costumes are alright I suppose, but admittedly, they weren't much of a challenge. I have never seen a WWII film really mess up in that department. Yeah.. really digging deep now to find something of quality here. Skip the watch.