Studio: Parkland Entertainment
Director: Marcus H Rossenhuller
Producer: Chris Curling, Robert Marciniak, Steve Milne.
Starring: Daniel Kroos, Freya Mavor, Harry Melling, John Henshaw, Dave Johns, Derviş Kerwin, Chloe Harris, Michael Socha, Gary Lewis, Angus Barnett, Butz Ullrich Buse.
Run time: 119 minutes
BBFC: 15
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 94%
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
It took little more than five years since his death for a film on his exploits to be made. Given the timing of its release around the same time as another movie focusing on the era of post-war reconstruction of Anglo-German relations movie (Kiera Knightley’s The Aftermath), it could be another film too far. However, this one comes through the lens of Bert Trautmann.
The former Nazi paratrooper turned Goalkeeper is portrayed well by Daniel Kroos who starts the movie experiencing the brutal, harsh realities of war as he is captured in Kleve. From there, he is sent to a P.O.W camp in Lancashire where they receive quite understandably harsh treatment from Sergeant Smilie (Melling) where a chance kick about see’s him picked up by the desperate manager of a local football team.