Regarded by many as the highpoint of German socialist film-making this fourteenth film of G. W. Pabst is a companion piece to his earlier 'Westfront 1918'.
Based upon the mining disaster at Courrieres in 1906, the director has cleverly chosen to set his film in the mining communities on the Lorraine/Saar border just after the end of the first World War which enables him to show the tensions and mutual distrust between top dog France and underdog Germany.
What strikes one most about Pabst's film are the claustrophobic mine galleries which have been built from scratch in the studio by Erno Metzner and which facilitate the roving camera and effective lighting of the legendary Fritz Arno Wagner whilst Pabst's mastery of crowd scenes is put to stunning use in its depiction of mass anguish.
Viewers will no doubt spot Alexander Granach who was to flee Germany for America and Ernst Busch, an avowed Communist who survived despite being on the Nazi hit list.
This sober, restrained masterpiece with its naively optimistic plea for international brotherhood, although critically well received, was unsurprisingly disdained by both French and German audiences.
The final, symbolic scene in which the iron barrier between the French and German mines is re-established in the presence of stern looking military officials is not only grotesquely ironic but gives dreadful note of the horrors to come.
Based upon the mining disaster at Courrieres in 1906, the director has cleverly chosen to set his film in the mining communities on the Lorraine/Saar border just after the end of the first World War which enables him to show the tensions and mutual distrust between top dog France and underdog Germany.
What strikes one most about Pabst's film are the claustrophobic mine galleries which have been built from scratch in the studio by Erno Metzner and which facilitate the roving camera and effective lighting of the legendary Fritz Arno Wagner whilst Pabst's mastery of crowd scenes is put to stunning use in its depiction of mass anguish.
Viewers will no doubt spot Alexander Granach who was to flee Germany for America and Ernst Busch, an avowed Communist who survived despite being on the Nazi hit list.
This sober, restrained masterpiece with its naively optimistic plea for international brotherhood, although critically well received, was unsurprisingly disdained by both French and German audiences.
The final, symbolic scene in which the iron barrier between the French and German mines is re-established in the presence of stern looking military officials is not only grotesquely ironic but gives dreadful note of the horrors to come.