"Heimat II"
("The Second Heimat")
1994
Directed by Edgar Reitz

"Staggeringly rich….The Second Heimat, which runs 25½ hours, forms, with its predecessor, a magnificent, nearly unprecedented 'film novel': a portrait of Germany in the 20th century with few equals in either film or literature…outlandishly ambitious…an often dazzling success. That [Edgar] Reitz is able to sustain growth and tension, inexorable flow and translucent clarity through the entire vast length, and hold audiences rapt…seems something of a miracle. The story is of Maria's son, Herrmann Simon, and his life in Munich from 1960 to 1970. There, a brilliant young modernist musician and composer, he falls in with an incandescent circle of young students, artists, rebels and lovers--all brought shatteringly to life by Reitz and a splendid cast of actors and musicians…The Second Heimat may be the screen's finest portrayal of youth in the '60s" (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune). German with clear English subtitles.  7 DVD set.