"Kameradschaft" or "Grubentragödie" or "Comradeship" is a German 85-minute sound film from 1931, so it has its 85th anniversary already this year. I don't think I know any of the cast, but director Georg Wilhelm Pabst is fairly known, even today still almost a century later. This film was made between the two World Wars of the 20th century and focuses on comradeship between French and German miners when one groups helps out the other as they are in deadly danger being stuck under the earth. And it is not just about this and about the idea of helping others in need no matter where they come from, but there are scenes early on as well, in which the two groups get along well despite their different nationalities, for example at a party or one group warning the other of a fire. Professional solidarity is more important than xenophobia. You can probably imagine very well what the Nazis thought of this concept and film.
Unfortunately, this black-and-white film does not elaborate convincingly on this pretty interesting premise. Quite a shame as there really was the possibility of a fairly great film here. But none of the characters and the plot in details turned out interesting. You can't blame one person or group for that, but as a whole it just didn't work out. Oh yeah, this film is listed as French here, but I am not sure about that. The language was almost exclusively German in the version I saw. The director is German and so are the writers. The actors with the most screen time are all German too as the film focuses on the German perspective of the tragedy. So if you speak German, you won't need subtitles, at least not for the version I saw. If you are French or English or anything else, subtitles will be a great help. Then again, you should not really watch the film anyway. Not a particularly rewarding watch and I do not recommend it.
Unfortunately, this black-and-white film does not elaborate convincingly on this pretty interesting premise. Quite a shame as there really was the possibility of a fairly great film here. But none of the characters and the plot in details turned out interesting. You can't blame one person or group for that, but as a whole it just didn't work out. Oh yeah, this film is listed as French here, but I am not sure about that. The language was almost exclusively German in the version I saw. The director is German and so are the writers. The actors with the most screen time are all German too as the film focuses on the German perspective of the tragedy. So if you speak German, you won't need subtitles, at least not for the version I saw. If you are French or English or anything else, subtitles will be a great help. Then again, you should not really watch the film anyway. Not a particularly rewarding watch and I do not recommend it.