Ernst Wiltmann
This movie is a timeless masterpiece, and one of Germany's top 10 rated films. It will draw the viewer with surprising frankness , and bold actions of 2 young men of an unlikely friendship, coming of age in the 1940's Germany. Drafted from Highschool to the German Military, both of them going through a character Transition: Werner, a more sensible person, turns more and more into a sceptic by witnessing how his ideals getting destroyed by the application of a ruthless fascist system where he has to be part of it. Gilbert, also intelligent, a man of action and a Go Getter develops a passion for everything Military, that eventually will challenge his friendship to Werner. The viewer will experience both of them as likable characters at first, and will go with them through a transition .Eventually feel the painful decision process they are forced to undergo. The gap between them widen and resolves a final movie climax. Being a complex psychological Drama, the film does not lack action or battle scenes, which were masterfully staged and ahead of their times. Using newly invented filmographic artwork, a realistic ambiance leaves the viewer in awe, even today with it's special effects and CGI technologies. Many elderly Germans who I had the pleasure sharing this movie with, attested it as being an authentic capture of the period. Made in 1965, the memory of the 40's where fresh and painful, the production used people with first hand experiences, to left no detail missing. For most movie directors using flashbacks of a flashback are usually a No No to use in blockbuster films. Surprisingly it works very well in this film. It does, because it helps the viewer to understand their character transitions from High School to the dramatic combat scenes. Both of them are not the typical blind Nazi followers, nor fanatics, nevertheless prisoners of their times. Sometimes even swimming against the popular tide of fascism, by beating up their schools Hitler Youth leader, for being a cruel prick.If they would have been born 20 years later, they would have blended right into our social fabric, as perhaps intellectuals (Werner) or aggressive businessman (Gilbert). Some viewers criticized this film for not using authentic WW2 rifles, pointing towards the AK-47, allegedly used in this film by German soldiers. When in fact they where "Sturmgewehr 44s", with whom not many people are familiar with. This Gun was issued by few German units in 1945, and described as one of Hitlers so called Wonder weapons to change the outcome of the war.The Actors and the Acting As a German raised Canadian, I love those Actors, because I grew up seeing them on German TV for half of my lifetime, and recently again, because the internet and online shopping makes it possible to reunite with them. Most of them can still be seen on new German TV productions today. For me, they where simply the best. Does a wage of x-million $ per film, make a Hollywood actor better, than an actor from another country who does quality work with a moderate wage ? I guess only American movie fans can answer that. For me, they just created one of my most favourite films. My Dad , a veteran of age 84 and I, are in accord on this opinion, as for my part I have listened a lot but not enough of my past 55 years to him, specially interested in the wartime. At first very reluctant to tell me much, my insistence paid of over the years. He grew up like a normal child from a middle class farming family, enjoying the seasons, Fishing, hunting and swimming in the ancient Hessel river. Joined the Hitler Youth, because almost every young boy did. That meant privilege's like participating in motor sport and glider plane classes. Our farming community lived in a quite and tranquil place of Germany, with not much going on. There was plenty of food on the farm, many family gatherings and celebrations, it seemed like time would not touch this little peaceful and enchanting world. That idyll all ended in the second year of the war, just like it did in the movie. If my Dad says the movie got it accurately, than I do believe him
Cephyros
SPOILER FREEVery intriguing movie with superb acting (!) that shows the life and mindset of young Germans during WW2, how they were moulded into becoming killers without second thoughts and how they were eventually used up in war. Definitely worth watching, especially if so far you have been exposed only to Hollywood's interpretation of the second world war and the nazis.Unfortunately there is one HUGE propaganda-insertion though, which the DEFA included: At 54 minutes into the movie, the young men (or rather, boys) discuss Nazi racial-theory, where eventually one states that "Slavs are basically Aryans" (without anyone dissenting it) "Selbst wenn die Slawen nicht so hochwertig sind wie die Nordische Rasse, so sind sie doch immer noch Arier". This is total nonsense of course. The Slavs were considered sub-human by the Nazis, worth not very much more than Jews themselves. This propaganda-insertion is really bad in TWO ways because it a) twists around the truth 180 degrees in order to make their Big Brother from Russia look better AND b) because it looks like they ACCEPT the nazi-racial theory; why else would they try to make the Slavs look better? The Nazi racial theory IS COMPLETE NONSENSE of course since there are no human races. This one sentence should be cut out when showing "Werner Holt" today, as it gives the whole movie a cheap taste: What else could be made up? And that shouldn't be, since everything else in it seems very accurately depicted.
One note concerning the previous comment by Mrdat Kundu: Their black uniforms are quite correct. Those are Panzer-uniforms. Maybe you should have done some research before claiming such nonsense. Besides, they never were "standard Wehrmacht". First they were members of the HJ (Hitler Youth), then RAD (Reichs Labour Service) and then members of the Panzertruppe (Armoured Troops). Did you really read the novel 3-4 times?The reason for them fighting Soviets instead of Americans in the movie is quite obvious: How could the DEFA possibly have gotten American WW2 tanks/uniforms/weapons? And it really shouldn't matter to anyone that the Soviets are using Kalashnikov rifles, as the movie is not trying to depict weapons, but people. (Unless of course you have read the novel 3-4 times, do not know the difference between Panzer and SS uniforms and rate the quality of a movie by the types of weapons used in it).
