Cinema - German films

German cinema: War

Die Blechtrommel (1979)

Volker Schlöndorff

Born into a German family in Danzig of the early 1920s, Oskar Matzerath becomes aware of the world around him at an early age. Unimpressed by the childish and hypocritical behaviour of the adults who surround him, he makes the decision on his third birthday never to grow up. By throwing himself down a flight of stairs, he manages to arrest his growth, but whilst he retains the stature of a child, his mind is more lucid than that of any adult... [More...]

Cross of Iron (1977)

Sam Peckinpah

It is 1943 and Germany is losing the war on the Eastern Front. After a humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, German troops are in retreat, repelled by a determined Soviet fighting machine. Corporal Steiner is a battle-hardened soldier in the Germany army, contemptuous of officers but fiercely loyal to the men who fight alongside him... [More...]

Le Passage du Rhin (1960)

André Cayatte

Paris, 1939. War is about to be declared any day. Roger works in a bakery and Jean is a reporter for the magazine L’Espoir. The two men have nothing is common other than the war which is soon to engulf their lives. Although Jean is engaged to be married, he is determined to fight for freedom and does not hesitate to enlist in the army... [More...]

Der Verlorene (1951)

Peter Lorre

In the immediate aftermath of WWII, Dr Karl Neumeister works in a refugee camp, immunising displaced people in the ruins of a defeated Germany. Introverted and dedicated to his work, he is perturbed when a man named Nowak is assigned to work alongside him. It is not their first meeting. During the war, Neumeister – then named Dr Rothe – was engaged on important research into immunology... [More...]

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