"Immensee - Ein deutsches Volkslied" or just "Immensee" is a German/Italian co-production that resulted in a German-language movie of approximately 95 minutes. It is from 1943, so it will soon have its 75th anniversary. The director and c-writer is Veit Harlan. He collaborated with Alfred Braun on the script here and the two central characters are played by Kristina Söderbaum and Carl Raddatz. This is actually a quartet of film people that you will find collaborating on other occasions back then as well. And there are other cast members that are also somewhat known today even because of the work they left us. The best example is probably Paul Klinger. But back to this one here. it is based on the work of Theodor Storm and it is not too difficult to see why the Nazis liked him, not that you can blame him for any reason as he was still long dead back then. So I already mentioned the Nazis, but you probably understood that yourself when reading 1943 and that it is a German movie. Of course, Söderbaum was also a huge star back then and people loved her. In here, she does not end up as the Reichswasserleiche for a change. But it is still a very dramatic and occasionally tragic story. Unlike other works by Harlan, the focus here is much more on story-telling than on propaganda, even if there are motives of course that the Nazis certainly appreciated in the plot and film. There is a huge deal of pathos in here for sure and lots of music from start to finish. But all this cannot make up for the lack of a story I really cared for, let alone connected with. The last part is probably still the best and I am referring to what happens when the central male character returns from Italy. But it's also no more than a 6/10 perhaps and everything before that is way weaker. As a whole, it is of course very modern for a film from World War II as it is in color (like other Söderbaum films) and sometimes pretty beautiful to look at, but in terms of story (or acting, to a lesser extent) it just is not a satisfying outcome. The best thing about it? Probably the stunning Germana Paolieri in her few scenes. Sadly, I cannot say the same about Söderbaum. I have never been a great fan of her and this film does not change my perception. She always seems to play very similar characters in films, at least back then, and I don't see much range in her. I don't recommend watching "Immensee". Thumbs down.
