The Bridge (Die Bruecke)Rating:
Release Date: 30 June, 1998 Retail Price: $45.00 OUR Price: $45.00 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: |
The Bridge (Die Bruecke) Reviews
A very good German war film
One of the few post-war (1959) German films to depict actual combat against the Americans, "Die Bruecke" (The Bridge) was shot on location in Bavaria in black-and-white with a low budget and mostly local actors. Still, it tells its story well and avoids the blah-blah, angst-ridden, self-psychoanalysis that plagues much German cinema. Set in the last days of World War Two, the film tells the story of a group of teenage schoolmates drafted into the home guard and assigned to defend the bridge into their village against the approaching Americans. Their leaders are middle-aged WW1 veterans (who recall their own combat experiences with bitterness) and die-hard Nazi fanatics (who can't admit the war is already lost). In simple, realistic scenes the director portrays the futility, confusion, terror and waste of all war, and the hopeless anarchy that existed in 1945 Germany. A well-wrought little gem. Too bad it hasn't found a larger American audience. Compares favorably with "A Walk in the Sun," which is at least available on VHS.
This is the most powerful anti-war film I've ever seen.
I saw this film as a high school kid in the 60s. It's set in a small boys' boarding school in Germany during WWII. As part of their training, the boys are told it is their responsibility to defend the little bridge next to the school. They drill with surplus helmets and other war-play gear, and practice vanquishing imaginary invaders. At the end of the war, with the German army in full retreat, the kids believe it is their sober duty to defend the bridge. They take their positions with their token weapons as the unsuspecting Allies cross. Tragically, they fight bravely, but are overcome.
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