If the film managed to strike an emotional chord with the millions who tuned in for three nights to watch it, then this was just the intention of producer Hofmann, who argued that, "history must transport feeling." (6) This approach to character development became, not surprisingly, Kolditz's leitmotif, his goal, "to write characters that displayed a certain scope but were nonetheless individuals, not stereotypes." (7) Through the storyline arcs, which repeatedly allow for improbable reunions in the field, the viewer is taken on a didactic journey of personal transformation. His argument for the innate power of the cinematic medium over the written word was echoed by screenwriter Stefan Kolditz, who asserted that the film-like all films-represents, "condensed reality." (5) Given the long history of films concerning these events it is no surprise that Hofmann and Kolditz sought out an approach praised by critics for its newness: a story line revolving around five young friends from Berlin who, each in their own way, are victimized by Nazi Germany. (2) The Siiddeutsche Zeitung praised it as "epochal" and "awaking the war in its entire monstrosity." (3) Der Spiegel lauded the film as "a new milepost of German cultural remembrance," for posing "the most important question for those born after: "how would I have acted?" (4) Even Martin Schulz, the German president of the European Parliament, weighed in on the film, praising the film's emphasis on the subjective perspectives of the protagonists. Frank Schirrmacher, co-editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, credited the film with ushering in "a new phase of the cinematic-historic treatment of National Socialism," specifically praising Nico Hofmann, the film's producer, for his "seriousness, attention to detail, and uncompromising" approach to the film. (1) Winner of the Goldene Kamera for best television film of 2013, UMUV could boast such positive reviews and sensational viewer ratings as few other television films in the almost seventy-year existence of the Federal Republic. FySy most accounts, the March 2013 television event Unsere Mutter, Unsere Vater (UMUV) marks an important milestone in the evolving cinematic treatment of the Third Reich, World War II, and the Holocaust.
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