Until recently I thought that the impact as "anti-war" film of Die Brücke was far greater than that of any other anti-war film. This was from memory, not having seen the film for over 15 years. Recent re-seeing of the film did not convince me entirely anymore, though it is still to be preferred to films like Stalingrad or Saving Private Ryan.
Situated within the German WW2 cinema of the 50's (starting with "08/15" to "Hunde wollt ihr ewig leben" of 1958) the film surely is an exception in its honesty and well-meant premise. But as Wicki said in interviews and what clearly is stressed in the film, not "war" itself is the subject, the propagandist influence on youth (and I say: from any regime/government for that matter) is the main subject. The influence of the older generation who believe in stupid ideals makes the youth stupid idealists. Wicki shows a number of precisely defined examples. The boy whose parents believe in Prussian (military) ideals: he believes what his father says.
All boys are military idealists even before they are drafted, indeed they can not wait to be drafted. As the film starts they are 16 years of age, but already they have undergone "Vormilitärische Erziehung" (pre-military education) in earlier years. Whether they have got this as member of the Hitler youth or otherwise is not clear, and may not be important. The fact is that from early youth on they are educated to be a soldier and thus can be employed as soldier from day one they are drafted. They are educated in the believe that all is well when done in the name of "Führer, Volk, Vaterland". Thus: not the young soldiers are to blame, but the parents, the older generation, the political system.
To wind up: this is the main "message" Wicki has to tell and he is good at it. War itself is never the main subject (and only takes about 1/3 of the film). Oh yes, he does show how horrible it can be in very impressive scenes. Wicki does show that war is not a game of "cowboys and indians" meant for boys of 16. But does he ever show that an offensive war is to be discarded at all? It seems to me that he only shows the ridiculousness of the last days of the war, when German HQ refused to give up and employed male youth as soldiers. I also wonder whether the film should have included the war scenes at all; would it not have been a stronger film if Wicki would have elaborated the 2/3 drama into a complete drama?
Wicki's direction of this his first feature is very good and in general he made a tight drama (and sad to say is still his only really good film). But the film is alas occasionally marred by some bad melodramatic acting by some of the young actors and also by some inappropriate (vis-a-vis the realism) melodramatic turns in the script. The reaction of Karl to the relationship of his father with Barbara is logic, but executed in a banal way. And whether an American soldier would be so kind to plea seize fire without carrying a weapon is very questionable; it probably should have been a dramatic turn, but it does not work at all.
Great cinematography by Gerd von Bonin who captures the right realistic atmosphere. Certainly the film is recommended viewing. One other unintended thing the film achieved was that after this one WW2 would not be a subject for the German cinema anymore for a long time. (7/10)
Situated within the German WW2 cinema of the 50's (starting with "08/15" to "Hunde wollt ihr ewig leben" of 1958) the film surely is an exception in its honesty and well-meant premise. But as Wicki said in interviews and what clearly is stressed in the film, not "war" itself is the subject, the propagandist influence on youth (and I say: from any regime/government for that matter) is the main subject. The influence of the older generation who believe in stupid ideals makes the youth stupid idealists. Wicki shows a number of precisely defined examples. The boy whose parents believe in Prussian (military) ideals: he believes what his father says.
All boys are military idealists even before they are drafted, indeed they can not wait to be drafted. As the film starts they are 16 years of age, but already they have undergone "Vormilitärische Erziehung" (pre-military education) in earlier years. Whether they have got this as member of the Hitler youth or otherwise is not clear, and may not be important. The fact is that from early youth on they are educated to be a soldier and thus can be employed as soldier from day one they are drafted. They are educated in the believe that all is well when done in the name of "Führer, Volk, Vaterland". Thus: not the young soldiers are to blame, but the parents, the older generation, the political system.
To wind up: this is the main "message" Wicki has to tell and he is good at it. War itself is never the main subject (and only takes about 1/3 of the film). Oh yes, he does show how horrible it can be in very impressive scenes. Wicki does show that war is not a game of "cowboys and indians" meant for boys of 16. But does he ever show that an offensive war is to be discarded at all? It seems to me that he only shows the ridiculousness of the last days of the war, when German HQ refused to give up and employed male youth as soldiers. I also wonder whether the film should have included the war scenes at all; would it not have been a stronger film if Wicki would have elaborated the 2/3 drama into a complete drama?
Wicki's direction of this his first feature is very good and in general he made a tight drama (and sad to say is still his only really good film). But the film is alas occasionally marred by some bad melodramatic acting by some of the young actors and also by some inappropriate (vis-a-vis the realism) melodramatic turns in the script. The reaction of Karl to the relationship of his father with Barbara is logic, but executed in a banal way. And whether an American soldier would be so kind to plea seize fire without carrying a weapon is very questionable; it probably should have been a dramatic turn, but it does not work at all.
Great cinematography by Gerd von Bonin who captures the right realistic atmosphere. Certainly the film is recommended viewing. One other unintended thing the film achieved was that after this one WW2 would not be a subject for the German cinema anymore for a long time. (7/10)