THE BRIDGE – DIE BRÜCKE 1X98’ – Oscar-Nominated and Golden Globe Winning Anti-War Classic
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THE BRIDGE – DIE BRÜCKE 1x98’ – Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe winning Anti-War Classic The famous and shocking anti-war movie from the fifties: eight boys, who are still under-age, are drafted into the Wehrmacht (German army) during the last days of the war in April 1945. Entirely unreasonable, they receive the order to defend a bridge against advancing American troops. Filled with fervour and patriotic enthusiasms, they believe that they must carry out their orders. But one by one they are killed while defending the bridge. When a group of German demolition troops is about to prepare the blasting of the bridge, the futility of the order becomes obvious. Only little Mutz survives and apathetically returns home. Cast : FolkerBohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz, Frank Glaubrecht Story and Screenplay: Michael Mansfeld, Karl Wilhelm Vivier Directed by: Bernhard Wicki 1959 DER ARZT VON STALINGRAD 1x110’ The situation in the Russian P.O.W. camp would be even worse, if it weren’t for staff-surgeon Dr. Fritz Boehler. His self-sacrifice, his personal courage and medical knowledge ease the sometimes incredible physical and psychological strain under which his fellow prisoners suffer. Under the most difficult circumstances he saves the life of the young Cadet Shultheiss during an emergency operation. When he cures the son of the Russian camp commander, he is also able to win the respect and admiration of all the guards. He does not join the first group to be returned home, as his care and devotion to duty are too strong. Cast : O.E. Hasse, Eva Bartok, HannesMessmer, Mario Adorf, Walter Reyer, Vera Tschechowa, Paul Bösiger, Leonard Steckel, Siegfried Lowitz Story and Screenplay: Heinz G. Konsalik, Werner P. Zibaso Directed by: Géza von Radványi 1958 CANARIS 1x90’ – International Awards winning espionage thriller based on true events In 1938, Germany is on the verge of an officer's revolt against Hitler and his government. However, this is hindered by the Munich treaties. Thanks to his international connections, admiral Canaris realizes that war is imminent, but all his warnings are in vain. His greatest enemy is Heydrich, the chief SS squad leader, who has Canaris followed so that he can also control the intelligence. But before he succeeds, he is called to Prague. Canaris does his best to help those persecuted by the regime and takes part in the preparations for the attack on Hitler. After the unsuccessful assassination attempt, he is jailed and hanged shortly before the end of the war. Cast : O.E Hasse, Adrian Hoven, Barbara Rütting, Story and Screenplay: Erich Ebermayer Directed by: Alfred Weidenmann 1954 AUS EINEM DEUTSCHEN LEBEN – DEATH IS MY TRADE 1x145’ – German Film Award in Silver Franz Lang, alias Rudolf Höss, was the first commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp. According to his own confession, he was responsible for the gassing of millions of people between 1941 and 1944. Even when confronted with the murders carried out on his orders, he continued to see them in the light of serving his people and his fatherland. Lang's biography illustrates his development leading up to Auschwitz commander – from WWI disappointments as a youth, unemployment, imprisonment and hard labor in the 1920s to the camaraderie of the Nazis, the rise of Hitler and the acceptance of his “historical mission“. Lang was arrested after the war and executed in 1947. Cast : GötzGeorge, Elisabeth Schwarz, Kurt Hübner, Hans Korte, Matthias Fuchs, Kai Taschner Story and Screenplay: Theodor Kotulla, Robert Merle Directed by: Theodor Kotulla 1977 NACHTS, WENN DER TEUFEL KAM – THE DEVIL STRIKES AT NIGHT 1x100’ – Vintage serial killer thriller – Best direction award at Karlovy Vary and Oscar nomination 1958 During World War II, Inspector Kersten one day comes across an old file about a series of unsolved murders. Although a suspect has already been arrested, Kersten starts an investigation of his own and comes up with the real killer, who turns out to be insane. An SS Officer, keen on gathering arguments for an action against the mentally ill, takes an interest in the case but the Nazi leadership decides it would be unwise to admit that a psychopatic obsessed killer, Aryan to Boot, was able to go about his murderous business for years without being apprehended. While the innocent man is made to pay for the last murder, the mentally ill man is executed without a trial, and the inspector is sent to the front. Cast : Mario Adorf, Claus Holm, HannesMessemer Story and Screenplay: Werner Joerg Lueddecke Directed by: Robert Siodmak 1957 DES TEUFELS GENERAL – THE DEVIL’S GENERAL 1x117’ – German Film Award in Silver – Marianne Koch Harry Harras is a renowned general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. His expertise in turning out top-notch planes has made him a legend in Germany. However, he finds himself caught between two extremes: on the one hand he has earned the enmity of fanatic SS officials because he is by no means a Nazi, and on the other hand he finds himself being used, albeit unwillingly, as a symbol for those Germans resisting the Nazi regime. Cast : Kurd Jürgens, Marianne Koch, Victor de Kowa, Karl John, Eva Ingeorg Scholz, Harry Meyen, Bum Krüger, Paul Westermeier Story and Screenplay: George Hurdalek, Helmut Käutner Directed by: Helmut Käutner 1955 HUNDE, WOLLT IHR EWIG LEBEN – DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER 1x90’ – Critically acclaimed gripping epic about the turning point of WWII in Stalingrad The winter of 1942/43, during the war, despite heavy losses, Hitler’s Wehrmacht troops have conquered Stalingrad, encircled by the Red Army. While many of the ordinary soldiers already realize that the war is senseless and that there will never be a final victory, the officers still try to encourage their men to carry on. Still there is a young lieutenant, who increasingly distrusts Nazi ideology. Over and above all the battle scenes, this is the story of a young man and his increasing scepticism… Cast : Joachim Hansen, Wilhelm Borchert, Peter Carsten, Armin Dahlen Story and Screenplay: Frank Dimen, Heinz Schroeter Directed by: Frank Wisbar 1958 LILI MARLEEN 1x90’ – One of Fassbinder's greatest commercial successes Lili Marleen is the story of a song and its singer, a tale about an impossible love. The German singer Wilkie loves the young Jewish musician Robert. After the outbreak of World War II, Wilkie achieves stardom with the song "Lili Marleen" - and with the help of a high-ranking Nazi official. Robert is arrested when he foolishly visits Wilkie in Berlin in the midst of the war. Wilkie then risks her life to save her lover, with disastrous consequences... Left without a career or a lover, Wilkie remains alone and forgotten - unlike "Lili Marleen", the song that will be remembered forever. Cast : Hanna Schygulla, Giancarlo Giannini,, Mel Ferrer, Karl-Heinz von Hassel Story and Screenplay: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1980 NACHT FIEL ÜBER GOTENHAFEN 1x99’ The Film is based on a true event. In January 1945, the refugee ship ‘Wilhelm Gustloff’ was hit by Russian torpedoes and sank with over 6000 passengers, mainly women and children. The destiny of the ship is closely linked to that of Maria Reiser, a wife of an officer on the eastern front. Maria is separated from her husband and falls in love with Hans, an officer on the ‘Wilhelm Gustloff’. Maria has a reunion with her husband during the German retreat from East Russia. The danger they find themselves in leads her husband to forgive her for having had an affair and all three are able to get to the relative safety of the refugee ship. When the ship sinks, Maria and the child are among the few survivors. Cast : Sonja Ziemann, Gunnar Möller, Erik Schumann, Brigitte Horney, Mady Rahl, Erich Dunskus, Willy Maertens, Edith Schultze- Westrum, Wolfgang Preiss, Tatjana Iwanow Story and Screenplay: Viktor Schüller, Frank Wisbar Directed by: Frank Wisbar 1959 ROMMEL RUFT KAIRO – ROMMEL CALLS CAIRO 1x90’ – War thriller set against Rommel’s Africa campaign Two agents, a half-Egyptian and a wireless operator, are instructed by German headquarters of the Africa corps to find out about the enemy’s strategic plans. From the upper valley of the nile they fight their way through to Cairo all by themselves, where they contact the Egyptian Freedom Movement. Using its channels they worm their way into the British headquarters. An enamoured female secret-service lieutenant leads them up to the secret map-room, where among other things the maps of fortress tobruk can be skrutinised – which then enables Rommel to launch his bold surprise attack. When the radio station fails and an Egyptian dancer becomes jealous, the two agents are finally uncovered. Cast : Peter van Eyck, Herbert Tiede, Ernst Reinhold, Laila Iman Story and Screenplay: Heinz Oskar Wuttig, K.H. Turner Directed by: Wolfgang Schleif 1958 HAIE UND KLEINE FISCHE – SHARKS AND LITTLE FISH 1x120’ Young aviation cadet Marseille is only interested in flying; the troubles simmering in Europe in the late 1930s mean little to him. When the war breaks out, he is sent to Africa, where his reckless flying on the front wins him the admiration of his superiors. He soon gets a special leave to return to Germany, where he is paraded as a hero. There he meets the young teacher Brigitte and falls in love with her. Troubled by her critical views, he starts thinking about the absurdity of the war but returns to the front when his leave is over. On his next mission, he is forced to eject himself from his damaged plane, but his parachute does not open, and the 22- year-old pilot plunges to his death.