Before the Fall (2004) User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Napola - Elite für den Führer

[DICK STEEL · 8/10 · 9 August 2005]

Napola refers to elite military National-Political Schools, set up to train promising young German talents into potential future leaders for the Third Reich - Man makes History, but Napola makes the Man. Set at the peak of Hitler's Nazi regime in 1942, this film explores the very different lives of two youths enrolled in such a school, and exposes some of the difficult training programme that these youths are put through.

Friedrich Weimer graduated as a Hitler youth, and spends time juggling work with boxing. Impressing a talent scout with his boxing skills, he gets recruited into one of the Napola schools, to be trained as an athlete to bring the school glory. Coming from a poor home, he sees this as a chance to bring wealth for this family, although they disagree with his joining the Napola.

Albrecht Stein is the son of the governor. What he lacked in the brawn department, he makes up with his gift for the written word, which often goes unappreciated, even with his parents.

Two youths from different backgrounds bond together as good friends, as they undergo the tough regimental training the school has to offer. At times, it's like Dead Poet's Society in a WWII German military setting, where they challenge and subtly question the establishment and their methods. Even though the school is made up of a recruited pool of the privileged few, basic evils of man persists, like corruption and jealous rivalry.

The different subplots and set action pieces unravel our protagonists' characters, and we see them develop in depth. From a wide-eyed promising talent, we journey with Friedrich as he slowly comes to terms with evaluating if one should sell out one's beliefs for fame and wealth, blinding the disappointment faced in the system. Albrecht, while meek looking, held on to his ideals, especially after a sad episode in the fields, and when being forced into a corner to renounce this ideal, found untold courage to actually do what he did, at the expense of everything else - friendship, family.

Which brings us to question, how many of us, if knowing what's right, will do the right thing, or take the easy way out and turn our backs towards the truth? We are also exposed to the highly fanatical training methods of the Nazis, of showing no pity, and signs of cowardice are treasonous.

Those who've undergone some form of army training will appreciate the nature of military training - from the physical exercises, punishments, and stand-by-bunks, to the bonding of bunk mates and "suffering" under the hands of sadistic superiors.

It is no surprise that Napola won various awards for film, acting and direction, It's rich cinematography and haunting soundtrack brings to life Nazi Germany of 1942, and highlighting the horrors of the training of an elitist school of soldiers and future governors, with its expected training tragedies.

This is a movie with powerful themes, with an introspective look at the development of man under difficult fanatical regimes revealed in a moving drama.

Top notch production

[jsmith1480 · 8/10 · 7 October 2005]

The subject matter is not unfamiliar - a decent German (in this case a talented young boxer) fights to retain his humanity in the face of Nazi pressure to lose it as a bad habit. At heavy cost to himself he refuses. And thinking back to the beginning of the movie we should not be surprised: to accept the invitation to attend an elite academy he must defy his father. To maintain his self-respect later on he must defy the surrogate fathers he has acquired at the academy.

This a superbly produced, directed film. The young actors' performances are believable and affecting. And for people who care about such things, Max Riemelt as Friedrich, the young, virile, gorgeous protagonist is a very easy guy to look at. Jim Smith

An introspection and warning... for past and present!

[siit · 8/10 · 15 July 2006]

Napola is a disturbingly intellectual movie. The more you think on the message; the more disturbing it becomes. It is actually very scary the normality of the 'education', and shows the ease to which the standard human being can be nurtured into whatever the government wishes to instill. Very poignant in todays current affairs!

The movie itself has a lot in common with 'Dead Poet's Society', ergo the journey of self-discovery and one's place amidst the strict paradigm of expectancy. Complete with tragedy and the strong hint of insidious cruelty, Napola is not a superficial standardised 'Hollywood' outing (thank goodness).

The facts at the end of the movie were amazing in their ability to encapsulate the futility and warn against brainwashing of a nation. May more people be aware of this practice so the 'real' terror be rightfully and publicly rebuked.

Insidious normality

[eit_666 · 7/10 · 15 August 2005]

The insidious thing about Napola is that you can actually see yourself and people around you as the characters in the film. Normality is the order of the day, everyone's just basically going about their lives, studying what they have to in school, with boisterous speeches the only slightly strange thing. However when you think about it, you realize that National Socialism's social genetic experiments were really subtle. The effort to create a master governing race pervades the whole film, and is the main driving force behind the story. Eventually, we see basic humanity winning a small tinny victory over a truly evil and brutal regime. And that is the beauty of the film.

extremely touching film

[singinuall · 10/10 · 23 November 2005]

I saw this film once, and needed to return once more to see it again. This film touched my heart in a way that very few others have. Max Riemelt and Tom Schilling give one of the most convincing and stellar performances I have ever seen. Their chemistry on screen is such that the audience becomes fully engaged in their emotion and in their situation. Their heart-wrenching performance is illuminated by director Dennis Gansel's artistic genius. There are breathtaking shots of German landscape and scenery. There are angles and shots throughout the movie that remain very close to you long after the movie is finished. The story is a very vivid reminder of the horrors that man is capable of producing. This German film is a reminder of that horror, but also reminds us that there is innocence within that horror. If anything, this film depicted young men who were stripped of their innocence. Some gave in to the horror, while our heroes fought against it. For those who are lovers of the German language, you will hear no finer dialogue and range of speech than in this incredible work. I urge anyone and everyone to see this film.

A little disappointing

[Waedliman · 6/10 · 25 June 2021]

Even though the attempt to present an important topic in an entertaining rather than educational way works for long stretches, I am not completely satisfied with the result. There is the often very theatrical acting of some actors who come more from the theatre, which is noticeable in their pronunciation and body language, and who cannot necessarily adapt to the conditions that a camera requires, as it records every detail. So you don't have to play for the 20th row in the theatre. On top of that, I would have liked the emotional journey to be even more intense. Yes, when you see a film 16 years after it was made, some impressions naturally shift, but this could have been better in 2005. The two main actors could not be more different, Max Riemelt, more of a physical performer, Tom Schilling, more of a fine spirit, a tender young man who rejects violence. The friendship between the two could have had more depth, but we understood what the film had in store in terms of themes and, all in all, it all works quite well. Why it was not nominated for an Oscar is obvious to me. Unfortunately, there was no compelling content and aesthetic design in the end.

Deserves Academy Award for Best Foreign Film

[ridwane · 9/10 · 2 September 2004]

I just watched Napola at the Montreal World Film Festival and I was pleasantly surprised. This choice of a random movie turned out to be a real cinematographic gem.

Set during World War II, this movie is about the dilemma and choices of some German teenagers who attend a napola - a special institution for gifted boys to turn them into the Nazi elite. Their days consist of military training and indoctrination; they are forced to lose all pity and become ruthless servants of the Fuhrer.

The story follows the entrance of Friedrich into a napola, the changes that he undergoes and the choices that he makes. Admitted because of his boxing skills, he seizes it as an opportunity to escape his poor working class situation. His best friend at the napola is the Governor's son - sensitive, caring, humane and opposed to Nazi dogma, he is obviously in the wrong place but has no choice but to fulfill his dad's wishes. As their friendship develops, Friedrich struggles between the ideology that the napola is forcing upon him and his friend's pacific beliefs.

This powerful film with excellent acting culminates on the boxing ring as Friedrich fights against the champion from another napola. The scene of the morning practice on the frozen lake left me breathless, while the ending of the grenade throwing session shook me with its passion, despair, and horror.

Another reason why I liked this movie so much is that it is made by Germans; indeed one would expect Hollywood to come up with such a story and that the outcome would be a highly emotional melodrama. I could feel the director disagreeing strongly with the Nazis, but rather than feeling shameful for what his countrymen did 60 years ago, he denounced it. Indeed, Friedrich's ultimate choice should be the choice of the new Germany.

My rating: 9/10

Career choices

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 24 March 2018]

There is a time to stand up and resist or at least refuse. But there is also a time where that moment seems to have past. Because once a system is in place, it takes more than just courage to go against that system that will protect itself with all means necessary. Now some may ask why there are so many movies about the Nazis that have been made in Germany. It is easy because first of all it is something that they are familiar with and secondly something that should never be forgotten (something that some people unfortunately seem to forget every now and then).

There are some nice boxing scenes in this too and there is some violence, so this is not for the faint hearted. Acting is more than decent too, which is very important for a movie of this size and magnitude but does not always work that way in Germany. If you want to have a look behind the training methods and what some people probably thought back then, this is a good start. Also the horrors of war ...

The Path from Glory to Self Martyrdom

[gradyharp · 9/10 · 14 June 2006]

BEFORE THE FALL ('NAPOLA') is a brilliantly made film that addresses the blind hopes of youth in becoming a success as a man, a factor that allowed and allows dictators to entice young men into the realm of warriors under the guise of applauded bravery and the golden promise of achieving glory for a great cause. This story just happens to be about Hitler and his 40 Napola (training camps for the elite German youths in 1942) and the young boys and men who trained in these National Political societies. It could be found in many places and in many times...

Friedrich Weimer (handsome and talented young Max Riemelt) comes from the lower class in Germany (his father is aiming him toward factory work) and is a fine young boxer. His talents are noted by some representatives from the Nazi party and he is asked to report for enrollment in a Napola, an important means of education and training that Friedrich sees as being his way to become something special, someone important. His father is anti-Nazi and refuses to let Friedrich go, but Friedrich is determined and runs into the night to join the Napola. Once there he is admitted, groomed as a boxer for the Napola, and introduced to the Hitler's youth movement. His fellow classmates vary from the very wealthy to other fine Arian lads. They are trained, observed, and brainwashed as to the glory of the Thousand Year Reich. Problems begin to arise when Friedrich gets to know his fellow classmates: Siegfried (Martin Goeres) is a bed wetter and is humiliated publicly for his problem; Albrecht (Tom Schilling) is a poet and writer whose father is one of the governors of the Napola and Albrecht is anti-war; other lads seem on the surface to be obedient yet most have hidden reservations about what they are doing.

Being 1942 some changes are occurring in the Nazi dream and the Senior class is sent out on a mission to fight the enemy. And one night Friedrich's class is called out of bed and sent into the woods to find Russian soldiers who are 'threatening' their security. The boys open fire on the Russians only to find that they have killed a number of unarmed Russian boys. This profoundly disturbs them all, but Albrecht in particular. Friedrich continues to observe the manner in which he and the other boys are used and slowly his best friends find ways to martyr themselves and ultimately Friedrich does the same in his only way - by changing the way he approaches the Napola expectations of his boxing.

Max Riemelt as Friedrich is outstanding: not only does he have the solid extraordinary good looks but he also can act, satisfying every nuance of this challenging role. The remainder of the cast - both young boys and the adults running the Napola - are superb. The cinematography is subtly beautiful, ranging from the tough interiors inside to the vistas of a Germany before it was destroyed by the not too distant fall. Director Dennis Gansel, who co-wrote the script with Maggie Peren, is a young man (the featurette with the DVD has an enlightening conversation between Gansel and Riemelt) knows exactly how to capture both the wide-eyed innocence of youth and the slowly crumbled ideals of young men. This is an outstanding film to see and experience. Its lessons are terrifying and intense. In German with English subtitles. Grady Harp

Very Good.

[Filmnerd1984 · 7/10 · 28 June 2007]

this movie tells the story of German youth. in the year 1942 the Nazis are at the peak of their power. but it is not just war, the Nazis are up to lots of different things. like creating an elite of arian top trained men, brainwashed in to believing whatever they are being told. i was intrigued by this movie, because i cant imagine the terror and strict upbringing of these young men. but they where the elite, and in the elite there is no time for sympathy or mercy. "if you die you are weak". the few men that does not buy in to the propaganda that is being fed to them are considered outcasts. those that actually understand that the Nazis are the evil side. this is a very interesting subject of history that i haven't seen a lot of, therefore the film is.. in my opinion original and entertaining.

A great film, meaningful, deeply moving emotionally

[vinylvision · 9/10 · 20 January 2005]

This film which depicts an elite Nazi teenage male youth training facility takes place in Germany during 1941 or 1942. Students are being trained to become future leaders after Germany wins the war. Much of the training is brutal. Students are taught to win regardless of any pain that their actions might cause their fellow man - whether friend or foe, fellow countryman or enemy. The film tells how the students accept or reject their training and the consequences of their decisions/indecisions.

I saw this film at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival at a "Best of Fest" special showing. It certainly should be a candidate for an academy nomination as "Best Foreign Language Film" but I do not know if it has a distributor for North America. It reminded me somewhat of a 2003 Palm Springs festival entry - EVIL/ONDSKAN (Dir. Mikael Hafstrom/Sweden) - which also packed an emotional kick in the gut that left me stuck in my seat for at least five minutes after the film had ended. Napola is the better of the two films by far. Great acting, script, direction, music, etc. See it on a big cinema screen if at all possible since film makes great use of the colors that will not have a similar impact in a video format.

Sports during the Nazi regime

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 4 December 2015]

"Napola" or "Before the Fall" is a 110-minute German movie from over 10 years ago. Writer and director is Dennis Gansel (around 30 at this point), pretty famous for "The Wave" and this one here is his breakthrough film (unless you already count the abysmal "Mädchen Mädchen!". Gansel has worked a lot with Riemelt in his career, so it's no surprise that he also plays the main character in here. Still, I am not sold on Riemelt after having seen many of his movies. I believe with another lead actor this may have been a really strong movie and contender for best German film of 2004. Tom Schilling, who's a pretty big star today, easily gives the more convincing performance as the soft-spoken son of a well-respected Nazi official, who realizes how wrong his father's deeds are.

The best scenes were probably the ones with the sports teacher. They were really baity written, but also gave a crass insight into the methods of operation at the training camp. The popular Nazi message of natural selection, even at the most cruel circumstances, is even more present in here than usual. We follow a young man who has a talent for boxing and may dream of the Olympic Games when he gets recruited for this training camp. The first scene at the camp was already very telling. He tells the officer right away that he left without his dad's permission, but even fakes his dad's signature. The Nazi officer acts negatively and surprised, but in the end he does not hesitate to accept the boy's presence instead of sending him home. A crime here and there is okay if it serves the Fuehrer and Vaterland. And the irony in how he tells him about honesty and obedience, while he himself is dishonest that very moment is priceless. I believe the film's biggest strength is the script. Moments of greatness are rare, but Gansel managed to come up with a screenplay that almost never drags and that is a decent achievement for a film that runs for almost 2 hours. I enjoyed the watch and everybody who likes Nazi-themed films should check it out. And if you already have, take a look at "Berlin' 36", which is sort-of the female-centered version of "Napola". Thumbs up and I recommend it.

about past

[Vincentiu · 15 June 2013]

a Nazi story. gentle and cruel, in same measure. a young man. his dream. a way. and the price. more than image of a youth organization, it is fresco of evil seduction. and chronicle of limits front to real values. result - a beautiful film. not only for performance of actors, for script or for realism of image. but for flavor after its end. it is a part of courageous German cinema work for define past out of precise definitions. for explore the essence, the seed, the heart of a nightmare who was, for its period, only a dream.it is a delicate operation this confrontation with dark ghosts. but it must be realized. for understand. for the honest verdict. as challenge. or warning. because the past is a puzzle of nuances. nothing else. the colors are only frame. but not the picture.

The most miserable film I have ever seen!

[jowoe · 1/10 · 24 January 2005]

I joint the NAPOLA in Stuhm, Eastern Germany from 1938-42 for 5 years. I would like to get a chance to prove, that the film NAPOLA shows one only true and correct episode: The glider training. All the rest is wrong, starting with all the uniforms shown and finishing with the behaviour of members and their leaders. The producer and his team has not the slightest notion about NAPOLAS at all! I wonder for what reason somebody shoots a film to show such an unrealistic part of history? Why do they distort the truth still 60 years later? There is no political reason anymore, to continuously re-educate the Germans. They had their lessons. Nobody needs and has the competence, to manipulate our children and grandchildren still by discriminating their fathers and grandfathers because they absolved one of the best schools of the world, the successors of the Prussian cadet schools in which many sons of important foreigners were trained in former times as well. Joachim Woerner

The allure of die dritte Reich

[Atavisten · 7/10 · 3 April 2011]

This is a brilliant movies about how kids were given a chance for great fortune in the future German empire, happily without the morality a Hollywood movie would portray the same material with. This is a movie that asks the viewer to think for himself instead of being predisposed. However much this is filmed in a style akin to that of Leni Riefenstahl, master director of nazi-propaganda films, it is a critical movie. And it also shows how people could sympathize for the cause, however brutal it was seen with historical hindsight.

The actors of Albrecht and the boxer both do a good job here and the strength of the movie lies in what is cuts out, it's a sparse tale with just the bare necessities left, at least in what we're used to with western cinema.

Should have been a contender for 'best foreign film'

[pawebster · 10/10 · 14 January 2005]

Contains slight spoilers.

This is one of a new breed of German films (like 'The Downfall') that takes a new look at the Nazi period. It is not afraid to show how attractive Nazism actually seemed to most Germans at the time and to show 'nice' characters happily giving the Hitler salute. Not that the film is in any way pro-Nazi -- quite the reverse.

Here we have a story about an élite school for future Nazi leaders. A working-class boy who is good at boxing is given a place there, where he makes friends with the sensitive son of the local Nazi leader. The brutality of the system eventually pushes both of them to become outsiders. Two suicides tellingly punctuate the story.

The acting is outstanding throughout, especially by the young stars of the film. Max Riemelt is particularly good as the boxer. The character is meant to be a doer rather than a thinker, unlike his friend, but Riemelt manages the transition from easy-going and rather empty-headed Hitler youth to someone who is prepared to stand against the inhumanity of Nazism.

The plot contains some powerful dramatic set pieces, such as the scene with the hand grenades and the one where the students dive under a frozen lake. These are brilliantly handled by the director and screenwriter, Dennis Gansel. He manages to bring out the full drama of them without overdoing it or lurching into melodrama or pathos.

I'm not generally a great fan of German films, many of which tend to be either self-consciously arty or trashily commercial. This is the best one I've seen since Das Boot.

Gay? Oh please...

[BasilCrabtree · 6 September 2006]

There seems to be a lot of controversy over whether or not these boys are gay. Homosexuality is so "in style" in this age, that everything seems to get tainted in one way or another. Not to mention all the implications over the years that Hitler was "Gay". This is absolutely ludicrous. It was an amazing film. The 2 young stars were sensational. I think somebody hit it on the nose when they said its all because the 2 stars are attractive males. They are both very handsome young men and I'm sure many homosexual men out there would love to think that there was "sexual tension" between the two youths but get over it! Not every person in this world is gay! Quit trying to change Earth into the "Gay Planet".

Why does my heart feel so bad?

[Ralfscheapthrill · 6/10 · 15 January 2005]

Ouh, it's so emotional, can you feel it? these hard times? man, i really like Dennis Gansel's approach to commercial stuff and even more his co-writer's Peren. but yesterday i saw I'm receiving the Bavarian film award for "best director" and he said, that he always wondered and never understood why so many Germans felt attracted by the Nazis. mmh, i always thought director's do have a bigger imagination, but so what - his conclusion : sons didn't get enough respect from their fathers and did like sports and uniforms, is after all not THAT surprising, eh? NApola tells his story from the similar naive,not very interesting point of view "Der Untergang" did recently. in fact a lot of critics etc. always wanted German films to be more like professional entertaining Hollywood stuff - here it is. Napola is not boring. Well acted. BUT the friendship of the main characters is not convincing, unless you understand it as a kind of "Love at first sight" homo-couple. (Why NOt? But I'm afraid Gansel didn't get it). There's no scene showing the meaning of their friendship - even the one stroll in the snow lasts just a few seconds in a very distant shot. Maybe they cut a lot to be more effective in a commercial sense, whatever. AND the "Farewell-SCENE" on the ice is really bad. Riemelt spend so much time with crying and screaming, you wonder why he didn't try to get back in the water to help his friend. The Points of view "Through but not really through the ice" is after all the worst moment in a movie. They chose "the beauty shot" instead of being real in this moment... All in all, not bad, could have been much better without less commercial value.

A very well constructed story!!! Warning Spoilers!!!

[asporner · 10/10 · 28 January 2005]

This film is about the a type of Nazi school called the NPEA, which means NAtional POLitische erziehungs Anstalt (National Political Education Institute) design to train the future Gauleiters (heads of Nazi Districts) of the world. Napola was the popular name for the schools; just as Nazi was for NAtional soZIalist.

The movie starts in Berlin during the middle of the second world war. A young Friedrich fights in a boxing match and ends up impressing a teacher at the Napola school for the Nazi Elite. In the end he gets an invitation to attend the school.

The film heavily leverages contrasts. Friedrich is a simple boy of non remarkable parents (the father could be communist, one of the Nazi party's strongest foes) who forges his fathers signature to get into the school. At one point we are introduced to one of Friedrich's roommates.

Sigfried has a bed wetting problem and is made a public example of. Later during an exercises with live grenades he sacrifices himself to save his friends. He gets a hero's death. The teacher that made a public example of him runs on the other hand, leaving the boys in harms way. It was the weakling bed wetter that saves the day. Here we also have the biblical image in play of a man laying his life down for his friends.

Albrecht, the best friend of Friedrich is a poet and tends more to the artistic side of life. He is fond of writing poetry, while his father (who is the Nazi Gauleiter of the region) has a very brutal side which will become apparent in the movie. His father despises him for his weakness, but takes Friedrich as a man after his own heart after a demonstration at his home.

The students are called to help in an "action". Certain events happen that cause both Albrech and Friedrich to question themselves and their future. Albrech uses his writing skills to protest what had happened. The consequence is very severe unless he writes a retraction. He does not. Instead he chooses a different way that traumatizes Friedrich and brings shame to his father. Friedrich suddenly sees things through Albrecht's eyes and decides to do something on his own.

The message of the movie is clear. Success in this school is not necessarily determined by intelligence--but rather brutishness. Those who have any ounce of humanity are weeded out. Then we find in these "perfect" exemplars surviving this elimination serious character defects that have separated them from humanity.

What I like about this movie very much is that it contains the interesting paradox that when you try to root out humanity--it is only found in greater abundance as which is what happens to Friedrich. The final contrast is that instead of making a better Nazi of Friedrich--it make him a better human instead. So as he failed at the school, he succeeded in life.

I highly recommend it even if you have no interest in the history of World War II or the Nazi's its a very good story!

Where are the Nazis?

[lual · 7/10 · 9 December 2005]

Actually a very courageous film that I enjoyed quite a lot. Very convincing actors, good set design and the director actually takes on the dangerous risk of toying with Nazi Aestheticism to capture the audience, which makes viewers feel uncomfortable, since even though they are enthralled by its impression, they know somehow it's wrong. This way, Gansel turns the viewer into an ally and tries to make him understand, why so many people were impressed by this era and how and why the boys were lured and brainwashed.

However, this is where the problems start. Even though I really like this film, there are two things that really spoil it a little for me. One of them is a problem of storytelling, the other is a problem of morals, which makes it even more dangerous for me.

The first issue is not that much of a problem, actually. I just feel that the solution to Albrecht's dilemma comes too quick. From the moment he speaks out to the tragic ending only about 15 minutes pass and even though the scene at the frozen lake is impressive, I think that this is quite a cop-out (not Albrecht's decision, but the screenwriter's decision) and I always felt Gansel could have made it a lot more powerful and emotional.

Now for my second issue with this movie. I believe that characters such as the one portrayed by the always reliable Devid Striesow are very convincing and real in being friendly and supposedly well-meaning but at the same time dangerous and not trustworthy. But why are all of the students innocent? None of the roommates of the two main characters is in any way a Nazi. They all go through this school, some of them have been there since their early childhood, yet all they struggle with are the problems kids at any boarding school have to face. If you think that they have been there for so many years, why does none of them show any sign of having adopted the Nazi philosophy? None of them speaks out against Albrecht, none of them supports the ideology, they all just go along like victims. Sure, they were victims of the system, but does not this omission just make this movie uneven, contradictory to itself and even dangerous in a moral view?

If this school has been designed to educate kids to become followers and members of the SS and they do not become infiltrated by the ideology (as in reality they were) why would this school be wrong? I think the director hast made a giant mistake here.

OK, there are some kids that are portrayed as Nazis, but they were all just the kids in the last grade who in the end go to fight the war. So, it must be assumed, that for a long time you are just a kid and don't get anything these teachers tell you and then from one day to the other, when you are old enough you just magically transform into a Nazi follower? I think this suggestion is completely misleading.

I love this movie on many parts (that's why I gave it 8 stars) and I think it was a very brave project. But in the end, because the director is not brave enough to show the whole picture, it ultimately unfortunately fails and not very much more remains but a feeling of having just watched a German remake of "Dead Poets Society".

Powerful and disturbing

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 25 December 2006]

Involving rigorous physical activity and political indoctrination in total subservience to Hitler and his ideas of a German master race, Napolas (National-Political Institutes of Learning) were established with the purpose of training future political, business, and social leaders for the "Thousand-Year Reich". In these schools, there was no room for debating opposing views or philosophical niceties like ends and means. The schools taught that only the strong survive. Anyone who showed any trace of independent thinking or sensitivity to human values were sadistically harassed and weeded out.

Based on the recollections of his grandfather, Dennis Gansel's Before the Fall (Napola —Elite für den Führer) is a riveting coming of age story about the training of one such Nazi elite in the Germany of 1942. The work transcends its limitations as a genre film to tackle a more universal theme - the struggle between external ideals and matters of inner conscience. Like Igor, the idealistic teenager in Dardenne's La Promesse, Friedrich Weimer (Max Riemelt), a Nordic-looking, working class boxer must deal with issues of conscience in an environment that is anathema to the assertion of human values. Friedrich is only seventeen when he is approached after an amateur boxing match by a Nazi instructor at a Napola school. Seeking to salvage the athletic reputation of the school, he sees in Freidrich not only a boxing champion, but a blank slate that can be molded to fit the Nazi ideal.

Friedrich, destined to follow his father as a factory laborer, sees the chance to both serve the fatherland and advance his own career and signs his own registration papers when his father refuses to agree. The boy is still very innocent but genuinely idealistic and possesses genuine warmth as shown in the scene in which he reassures his younger brother. Friederich's mind is open to the Nazi indoctrination not because he is without conscience but because he simply hasn't seen any reason to question the prevailing zeitgeist.

Freiderich's limited world experience suddenly expands, however, when he meets two other classmates: Siegfried Gladen (Martin Goeres), a boy who has a bed-wetting problem ruthlessly exploited as weakness by his fellow cadets and their sadistic teachers, and Albrecht Stein (Tom Schilling), the son of Heinrich Stein (Justus Vob Dohnanyi), a hateful Nazi governor. Albrecht who has the dangerous idea that people should consult their own conscience before blindly following orders is a boy of sensitivity and poetry, the embodiment perhaps of the true German spirit of Goethe and Heine. His father is revolted, however, by the boy's perceived weakness and humiliates him by insisting that he and Freidrich engage in a very uneven boxing match when he invites his friend to his home.

Albrecht begins to question the merciless Nazi training after he sees Freidrich deliver a blow to the head of a fighter when he is already down. He also recoils in horror and speaks out publicly after the cadets are marched out into the forest to track down and murder allegedly escaped Russian POWs, in reality unarmed children. This incident results in a break in the relationship of the two boys and a sudden but predictable tragedy.

Before the Fall is more than an accounting of the Nazi's disregard for human values, a fact already well-established. It is a more profound statement of how people need to be educated to think for themselves and take a stand for what they believe to be right. Impeccably directed and beautifully performed, Before the Fall is one of the most powerful and disturbing films of recent memory.

...great tension in most of the film, but in the end a let down because of weak or non-existent premise and to me an unbelievable plot.

[stodruza · 6/10 · 20 March 2006]

Before the Fall stars Max Riemelt as Friedrich Weimer, a talented boxer who is recruited into Napola, an elite fascist school. When his friend Albrecht Stein played by Tom Shilling commits suicide, Friedrich throws a fight to make a stand against aggression.

Riemelt is a very good choice for the leading actor in this role. He embodies the all of the graceful and powerful qualities of his youth, and brings a young future oriented feeling with him that you can feel with your heart. Schilling is also very good in his role as a sensitive youth. However, the problem in the film comes with the film's ending which although being the correct response to fascism to me is unbelievable given the setting.

What a powerful and tidy first and second act I must say. The only thing is that perhaps this school comes off a bit soft considering what was actually going on. With all of the yelling and screaming, I'm willing to bet that Napola in actuality did manage to succeed in beating out every single subtle impulse out of every single student. This might however be a true story, in which case I stand corrected. In everyone except two students then.

It seems to me to go through the many successions and trials that the film presents, the characters should logically end in a 180 degree spiritual demise, and subsequently the lead character, who through lessons of fascism, war, and aggression, should make a 180 degree turn from an innocent optimistic youth to into a war machine, a combat unit, a soldier.

This would be enough for me, but I am afraid that perhaps the screenwriter felt he had to say something positive rather than negative. This is a shame because it does take away greatly from the film in my opinion. Rather to deny the "cinematic moment" which doesn't work anyway, in order to state unequivocally the end result of such tyranny on a personal level for these Hitler youths would again in my opinion be the right choice, without re-writing the entire script. Now weather or not this is worth saying and making a film about this is another question. My answer is that if there was nothing more important to say about Fascism, then that premise alone would have been a film worth making, proving that premise in the film.

It is interesting that some films don't need premises to prove, and this could have been one of those films. These are mostly war films, such as Patton, where it seems that the universal threat and the action can subsist nicely with only an interesting plot. Other non-war films would be Breaking Away and Star Wars. These films work rather nicely without a strong underlining premise to prove.

As it stands: good to great moments, great tension in most of the film, but in the end a let down because of a weak or non-existent premise and to me an unbelievable plot.

The strongest one is he who swims against the current...

[aesandiego · 9/10 · 28 April 2006]

In a world of Nazi madness most people follow the leaders... regardless of their values. When a Nazi officer sees his son's critical of the system, he thinks he is too weak. This sums it up. In his mind those who kill more people, who follow the Nazi ideals are the strong ones. There's no room for the "weak ones". His son has become aware of the lies and the lack of human values of those who order them kill Russian unarmed kids trying to escape, and has realized they're becoming evil like his father. Going against the system is extremely difficult and painful, requires strength of character...

This movie painfully opens our eyes to why a whole country looked the other way when atrocities happened and makes us think whether or not we would've been any different had we been in their shoes. The story was told in a very simple, yet sensitive manner, with excellent acting and beautiful, photography.

Good entertainment not much reality though

[qwesaf · 7/10 · 27 February 2006]

Let me first say that I really enjoyed watching the movie. It was superb entertainment from beginning to end.

However, I have read some comments claiming that this movie is superior in its realism to your off the shelf Hollywood flick. That is far from the truth in my opinion. A simple change of perspective, in this case a view of WW2 from the German side, doesn't automatically equate to realism. This movie is commercial, it is cheesy, it suffers from overacting and tries really hard to lecture us about the evil of NAZIsm. Nevertheless, it is highly entertaining and that's what movies should be about. Go see it.

No need to exaggerate your message

[RimDur · 5/10 · 22 November 2005]

The main problem with NAPOLA is that it tries to hard to deliver its message: the Nazi regime was bad, the Nazis were evil and history repeating must be prevented at all costs.

But opposed to DER UNTERGANG their message is obscured because they are not portraying the Nazis as people but instead cardboard characters. Gauleiter Stein is hands down the most stereotyped character, I have seen in a Nazi movie. The scene where he sets up a boxing match between Friedrich and Albrecht in his cellar is totally unbelievable.

DER UNTERGANG succeeds in portraying the most evil person in recent history, Hitler, as a human being, which makes him even more chilling.

But in NAPOLA the Nazis are just stereotyped one dimensional persons. They seem to posses only one human characteristic: malice. This makes them easier to disown as "monsters". As a matter of fact most Nazis - even the ones that carried out the most brutal crimes against humanity - were kind family fathers. They seemed to have two personalities: a public and a private one. When you see a human being with human emotions carry out outrageous acts, these acts seem all the more frightening than if you see a monster carrying them out. NAPOLA misses the target because of the inept characterization.

The friendship between Friedrich and Albrecht is also very hard to comprehend since the development of their friendship goes from "total strangers" to "best friends" in a matter of seconds. The writer/director should have paid the development of that friendship more attention since it is a key element in the movie.

The strict father/creative son relationship which leads to the suicide of the son is a total ripoff of DEAD POETS SOCIETY. At least they could have tried to twist the story just a tiny bit to make it somewhat unpredictable.

The movie itself is spectacular when it comes to settings, costumes and cinemagraphy. Beautiful work.

Though I really wanted to like NAPOLA, in the end I walked out of the theater disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much.