Monday 1 April 2013

Berlin 36 (4 Stars)


This is the true story of the German high jumper Gretel Bergmann, played by the delicious looking Karoline Herfurth, the girl on the right in the above photo. There's something undescribable about Karoline. She isn't beautiful in the conventional sense of the word, but something about her face is appealing.

Though based on true events, this story is practically unknown. Germany disguised a man as a woman to take part in the women's high jump in the 1936 Olympic Games. Dora Ratjen (called Marie Ketteler in this film) went on to set a new world record in 1939, but the record was declared invalid a few years later when her real gender was discovered.
I reviewed the film in more detail here. Incidentally, the real Gretel Bergmann is still alive. She's 99 and lives in New York.

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