User Reviews

I personally found this film to be interesting. If you are actually interested in Nazi Germany you will probably find this film worth your while. The film never hit you over the head with any message or displayed any bias, I found it neutral and subtle in the points it was making. It is a common error that people assume everyone involved in Nazi Germany was "evil" a "conspirator". We are exposed to Nazi Germany through our protagonist, who has just been released from prison for involvement with the Communist party, and has difficulty after 2 years adjusting to the new Nation-State and its attitudes. Despite his will to interfere, protest, change and be politically active in some form, the film shows us how futile such efforts were. Other points it greatly demonstrates is the illusion of freedom and trust given to German citizens, the genuine optimism Hitler and the NSDAP provided for the German people, and how not only freedom of action is repressed, but also freedom of THOUGHT. If you are looking for a westernized war film with explosions, sex and death, this is NOT for you. If you are willing to exercise your mind and put yourself back in time and place, you may appreciate this. Regarding the previous posts about character and plot development...I found the plot to move at its own pace...I feel we are too conditioned to fast cuts and over-exposition...this a 'thinking-film'. As for character this isn't 'Can't Hardly Wait' or 'The Breakfast Club'. The character development was Arnold's transition into self-defeat, realizing there was NOTHING of significance he could do in the mania of the charismatic "heil-Hitlering", and he can not even trust his own comrades. If you are interested in history, and an unbiased, neutral look into the zeitgeist of Nazi Germany, I would suggest giving it a watch. And then you can make your own value judgements.

other things that are fantastic about this film: the shooting, the editing, lighting and mise- en-scene, the acting, the pace (i.m.o.), the subtleties you will notice if you have active eyes and afford your attention

This is a German film that starts off slow, confusing and dull and remains slow, confusing and dull right up to its abrupt ending. I didn't care about anyone or anything that happened during this film. There was no character development here. The plot sounded interesting enough and usually films taking place in Nazi Germany or during that time tend to be interesting. This was not interesting in the least. If you enjoy guessing at what may be going on; If you love to wait for a plot to kick in; If you easily become tempted when the DVD box describes something as a "taut psychological thriller"; If you are suffering from insomnia, then this film is recommended to you.

I wouldn't pan this quite as much as gunnarvl, but he's right about the plot, which is insubstantial to a ridiculous degree. There's a bit of suspense, and occasional connections from one scene to another, but mostly it's scenes ,dialog, and characters that never develop much individually or collectively.

The only things that kept me watching to the end were the anticipation of some improvement in the plot (didn't happen), and the realistic settings. I wondered where they were able to film what seemed to be 1930's era buildings and streets; I see now it was made in East Germany before 1982. Probably wasn't hard to find places that hadn't changed much since the 30s.

I usually like movies that are subtle or ambiguous, or both, but this one carried those characteristics so far I was longing for a chase, a shootout, some sex, anything.

Hitchcock or somebody said films are life without the boring bits. This movie was life without the exciting bits.