Harmonists, The

Director Joseph Vilsmaier has turned the rise and fall of a legendary Berlin-based group into a music biography that embraces both sweeping and intimate contours. In the 1930s, the five singers and pianist known as the Comedian Harmonists became internationally loved for their comic and romantic arrangements. As persecution in Hitler-era Europe spreads, the group is scrutinized by Nazis leaders for including three Jews and non-Aryan compositions in its act. The entertainers wrestle with their personal and professional futures in a story bout about love, tolerance, patriotism, mass denial and the far-reaching tentacles of bigotry.