Director Wolf has a small masterpiece in this film, which is about the exploration of a young German-born Russian soldier's attempt to find his roots during the final days of World War II as the Russian Army advances on Berlin. This is also an unsweetened account of the chaos of war. Many suspenseful moments and never boring. Gregor, the nineteen-year-old of the title reveals himself throughout as the confused, self-conscious, prideful and sometimes ruthless young man that he is, not unlike any young man of 19 caught up in wartime situations. Highly recommended. Another look but an unusual one at the war that marked the 20th Century.
9 Reviews
Communist propaganda in a human way
wvisser-leusden28 July 2009
Shot in Eastern Germany in 1968, 'Ich war neunzehn' (= German for 'I was nineteen years old') is among the better films from the former Communist part of Europe.
Set in the last days of Adolf Hitler, 'Ich war neunzehn' deals with Stalin's Red Army invading Germany from the East. To avoid the countless atrocities committed by both sides in the most savage war in history of mankind, the East German filmmakers choose to show events through the eyes of a nineteen year old boy. A logical choice: this introduces innocence, as well as hope for the future.
The rest of this enjoyable film is propaganda, sold in a friendly and human way. The Red Army is presented as liberating the German common people from Hitler's rule. Its victorious soldiers show themselves eager to make friends with them.
In reality, after three terrible years of German occupation in the Soviet Union, Stalin's soldiers applied a fearful revenge when invading Germany. A revenge encouraged by steady Communist propaganda. It resulted in many crimes, such as the free rape of German women. You will understand that 'Ich war neunzehn' ignores this.
Set in the last days of Adolf Hitler, 'Ich war neunzehn' deals with Stalin's Red Army invading Germany from the East. To avoid the countless atrocities committed by both sides in the most savage war in history of mankind, the East German filmmakers choose to show events through the eyes of a nineteen year old boy. A logical choice: this introduces innocence, as well as hope for the future.
The rest of this enjoyable film is propaganda, sold in a friendly and human way. The Red Army is presented as liberating the German common people from Hitler's rule. Its victorious soldiers show themselves eager to make friends with them.
In reality, after three terrible years of German occupation in the Soviet Union, Stalin's soldiers applied a fearful revenge when invading Germany. A revenge encouraged by steady Communist propaganda. It resulted in many crimes, such as the free rape of German women. You will understand that 'Ich war neunzehn' ignores this.
A great movie if the viewer could forget the propaganda.
ffascie5 September 2023
I was tempted to give a 10/10 review. However, the propaganda ruins a great movie. Despite everything, it is a remarkable anti-war film. Especially considering that it is a DDR movie that passes the censorship. Some interesting characters are depicted and it holds the attention for 2 hours. It is not common to find available copies of DEFA films, therefore that already makes it a piece of interest.
In general, German war movies from the 50s and 60s are very well set. Much more than in American cinema, despite having more modest resources.
In short, a highly recommended film. Especially for fans of war movies and for those looking for works far from commercial cinema.
In general, German war movies from the 50s and 60s are very well set. Much more than in American cinema, despite having more modest resources.
In short, a highly recommended film. Especially for fans of war movies and for those looking for works far from commercial cinema.
Soviet/East German propaganda, sugar coating history
drwls27 August 2010
I rented this film because of an interest in German culture and history. I lived there for a while, and have a (former East-) German wife and relatives. My wife, who was 11 in 1945 when this film takes place, says that it was much worse then than the movie shows, particularly with regard to the utter devastation, starvation, and behavior of the Russian soldiers. Few women between ages of 13 and 50 escaped being raped, and most boys of her age and a bit older were taken away and never seen again. After reunification, the mass graves of many of them, killed by Russians, have been found. Her father, who was never a soldier or Nazi, was shipped off to slave labor in Kazakhstan for about ten years. In the movie, it is implied that the surrendering German soldiers were rewarded with extra food, and then sent home. Get real.
The intent of the movie, made in the GDR at a time when they were barraged with propaganda trying to make them believe that Russians were their friends, is obvious.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy watching it, because even propaganda can be interesting for what it is. (Example: Triumph of the Will, which is infinitely better than this movie). The events involving the surrender of Spandau prison to the 19 year old Russian "commandant", which may have been based on fact and the director's own experience, were of particular interest, and well dramatized.
The intent of the movie, made in the GDR at a time when they were barraged with propaganda trying to make them believe that Russians were their friends, is obvious.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy watching it, because even propaganda can be interesting for what it is. (Example: Triumph of the Will, which is infinitely better than this movie). The events involving the surrender of Spandau prison to the 19 year old Russian "commandant", which may have been based on fact and the director's own experience, were of particular interest, and well dramatized.
Ideology Ruins Potential Classic
Kittyman10 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
(Note: this film is based on director Konrad Wolf's 1945 diary. It is, therefore, pretty much an autobiographical story about his own life and experiences.)
In 1934, to escape Hitler, a German Jewish family flees to Russia. In 1945, the son, now a nineteen year-old lieutenant, returns as a member of the Soviet army. Among the many things he experiences on his way to Berlin is a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. There a demonstration of the workings of a gas chamber is performed. The film as a whole, however, suffers greatly from having been produced in East Germany. The protagonist's Jewish identity is never introduced. This seriously weakens the ambiguous impact of his return "home." Also, in general, the Russian soldiers invading Berlin behaved badly. For example, a hundred thousand rapes or more are said to have occurred. Yet, the film presents not even a whiff of this. Indeed, only one German girl is shown to be worried, and she is reassured and sent upon her way. Meanwhile, throughout all the movie, Soviet personnel deport themselves in noble and gentlemanly ways. Thus, a potentially realistic classic is ultimately doomed by ideology.
In 1934, to escape Hitler, a German Jewish family flees to Russia. In 1945, the son, now a nineteen year-old lieutenant, returns as a member of the Soviet army. Among the many things he experiences on his way to Berlin is a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. There a demonstration of the workings of a gas chamber is performed. The film as a whole, however, suffers greatly from having been produced in East Germany. The protagonist's Jewish identity is never introduced. This seriously weakens the ambiguous impact of his return "home." Also, in general, the Russian soldiers invading Berlin behaved badly. For example, a hundred thousand rapes or more are said to have occurred. Yet, the film presents not even a whiff of this. Indeed, only one German girl is shown to be worried, and she is reassured and sent upon her way. Meanwhile, throughout all the movie, Soviet personnel deport themselves in noble and gentlemanly ways. Thus, a potentially realistic classic is ultimately doomed by ideology.
Wes Anderson Style
davidscottheck4 December 2016
This movie is superb!
If you enjoy Wes Anderson, then watch this film! It's very similar in characters, cinematography, costuming and actor blocking.
What a powerful message to the German people at the same time. This piece of art calls out their hatred and is quite blunt about it.
No spoilers, but I love that the lead Russian soldier is German. It adds a sense of rebellion to his actions.
It's refreshing and fun to watch. Again, I highly recommend this to Wes Anderson fans. The cinematography is fantastic! Great long shots, close ups and framed scenes.
A film definitely worth finding and owning. :)
If you enjoy Wes Anderson, then watch this film! It's very similar in characters, cinematography, costuming and actor blocking.
What a powerful message to the German people at the same time. This piece of art calls out their hatred and is quite blunt about it.
No spoilers, but I love that the lead Russian soldier is German. It adds a sense of rebellion to his actions.
It's refreshing and fun to watch. Again, I highly recommend this to Wes Anderson fans. The cinematography is fantastic! Great long shots, close ups and framed scenes.
A film definitely worth finding and owning. :)
Good but not Great
RichardvonLust7 October 2009
The main problem with Ich war 19 is that glosses over several essential realities. It seems like a Soviet propaganda movie trying to white wash the past. The invasion of Germany by Soviet troops in 1944/5 was nothing short of barbaric. 18 million people were driven from their ancestral lands - over 2 million civilians were brutally murdered. More than a million POW's were liquidated and another 2 million Ukrainians, Poles and White Russians of German descent were also exterminated by the Soviets.
The landscape was almost completely destroyed by allied bombing and soviet artillery. 80% of the buildings were destroyed. Women (and boys) were frequently raped on the spot. The boys were lucky - they were invariably bayoneted after-wards - but the women were passed to next comrade. Of course we can argue that this was justified because of the Holocaust and the German barbarism in Russia and Poland. But women and children?
The film does not even suggest this was happening. It represents the war as a sort of part time activity in which a few unlucky people got killed. The buildings are all intact. The people all look well fed. The faces look completely undramatized. It doesn't bring home the reality of truth.
1945 was truly horrific for everyone between Berlin and Konigsberg (Kaliningrad)It is an indelible scar on the memory of everyone old enough to remember it. This film does not convey that horror.
The landscape was almost completely destroyed by allied bombing and soviet artillery. 80% of the buildings were destroyed. Women (and boys) were frequently raped on the spot. The boys were lucky - they were invariably bayoneted after-wards - but the women were passed to next comrade. Of course we can argue that this was justified because of the Holocaust and the German barbarism in Russia and Poland. But women and children?
The film does not even suggest this was happening. It represents the war as a sort of part time activity in which a few unlucky people got killed. The buildings are all intact. The people all look well fed. The faces look completely undramatized. It doesn't bring home the reality of truth.
1945 was truly horrific for everyone between Berlin and Konigsberg (Kaliningrad)It is an indelible scar on the memory of everyone old enough to remember it. This film does not convey that horror.
East Germany elaborating on the war
Horst_In_Translation13 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Ich war neunzehn" or "I was nineteen" is a German movie from 1968 and the duo who made this were Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase, both very much known today here in Germany. There were so so many films that elaborated on the subject of World War II, also from the German perspective, and here we have one of the most known approaches from the Eastern Side of the Wall. Also it has lots of autobiographical impact in terms of Wolf's early years. All this is a good basis for an interesting and convincing film, but sadly I must say the overall outcome did not impress me at all. It is tough to say what the major problem is, but I just felt that it was never interesting in terms of the characters, story or historic context. Lead actor Jaecki Schwarz is also a bit known today because of the work he did later in his career and he is still pretty active, especially in German television. Unfortunately, his performance here is nothing that got me really curious about his other works. This film is slowly dripping forward in its massive slightly under two hours, but there were no moments at all where I was really impressed or which I would call memorable. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
This film is VERY deceiving.
artisticengineer9 December 2010
I actually wanted to give this film a "7" or "8"; yet there are some terrible problems with the entire premise of it. The story comes from the memoirs of a former Soviet soldier whom the protagonist is based upon. Filmed in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) it portrays a person with his background (born German though raised in Russia) as being somewhat unusual (which it was and still is) but nonetheless a "good" or "noble" person.
In the 1930s the communist party was at it's zenith in popularity in the United States. In that day and age it was not uncommon to meet a communist, in the United States, who did not have an accent (Jack Reed of "Reds" fame was not the only such person in the United States). This is understandable due to the horrific Great Depression. However, Communists or Socialist Workers were still a minority party in our country. A few of them "progressed" from being members of a minority party to being total lunatics and actually migrated to the Soviet Union to live and work. During the Stalin purges of the late 1930s many of them were seen running to the U.S. embassy, being chased by KGB agents, and waving their (by then) useless passports trying to find asylum with their embassy of their former country. Usually they were gunned down before they reached the embassy. A movie dealing with similar emigrants to Russia after WWII is "East/West".
Anyway, the protagonist of this film is the son of similar wackos who lived in Germany prior to emigrating to the USSR. Most Germans at that time who fled the Third Reich (such as Albert Einstein) went to the west; NOT to Russia. One really has to question the motivation of the author's parents and the burden they saddled him with (having to live in a totalitarian regime for a long time afterwards). Anyway, this kid essentially became a "freak" by being a Soviet citizen born in Germany. His parents were obvious wackos and/or weirdos.
Still, I will have to admit that as bad as the Soviets were they palled in comparison with the Third Reich. That, unfortunately, is the truth. And, it shows just how terrible that regime was. Interesting film; showing the conflict of a pretty bad system (USSR) with an utterly terrible one (war time Germany). The film shows, as other reviewers have noted, the hope for a reconciliation between post war Germany and Russia. Fair enough, except the reconciliation was to include a socialist German (ALL of Germany; not just East Germany). Fortunately, like the battle of Spandau Fortress in the film, that never happened.
In the 1930s the communist party was at it's zenith in popularity in the United States. In that day and age it was not uncommon to meet a communist, in the United States, who did not have an accent (Jack Reed of "Reds" fame was not the only such person in the United States). This is understandable due to the horrific Great Depression. However, Communists or Socialist Workers were still a minority party in our country. A few of them "progressed" from being members of a minority party to being total lunatics and actually migrated to the Soviet Union to live and work. During the Stalin purges of the late 1930s many of them were seen running to the U.S. embassy, being chased by KGB agents, and waving their (by then) useless passports trying to find asylum with their embassy of their former country. Usually they were gunned down before they reached the embassy. A movie dealing with similar emigrants to Russia after WWII is "East/West".
Anyway, the protagonist of this film is the son of similar wackos who lived in Germany prior to emigrating to the USSR. Most Germans at that time who fled the Third Reich (such as Albert Einstein) went to the west; NOT to Russia. One really has to question the motivation of the author's parents and the burden they saddled him with (having to live in a totalitarian regime for a long time afterwards). Anyway, this kid essentially became a "freak" by being a Soviet citizen born in Germany. His parents were obvious wackos and/or weirdos.
Still, I will have to admit that as bad as the Soviets were they palled in comparison with the Third Reich. That, unfortunately, is the truth. And, it shows just how terrible that regime was. Interesting film; showing the conflict of a pretty bad system (USSR) with an utterly terrible one (war time Germany). The film shows, as other reviewers have noted, the hope for a reconciliation between post war Germany and Russia. Fair enough, except the reconciliation was to include a socialist German (ALL of Germany; not just East Germany). Fortunately, like the battle of Spandau Fortress in the film, that never happened.
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