The Edelweiss Pirates (2004) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
8 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
Germans that Opposed to the Nazis
claudio_carvalho2 March 2008
In the end of World War II, in the bombed Köln, the teenager Karl Ripke (Iwan Stebunov) lost his old brother in the war while his father is fighting in the front. His younger brother Peter (Simon Taal) belongs to the Hitlerian Youth while Karl belongs to the gang Edelweiss Pirates that fight against the Nazis and steals food supplies for their families. Karl has a crush on his sister-in-law Cilly Serve (Anna Thalbach), who raises her daughter and her son with his brother alone. When Karl finds the German prisoner Hans Steinbrück (Bela B. Felsenheimer) wounded in the middle of wrecks, he hides the man; later, Hans saves Cilly's little son and she lodges him at her home in return. Meanwhile, Peter discovers that his father was not pro-Hitler, leaves the Hitlerian Youth and joins the Edelweiss Pirates. Hans becomes a leader of the group and teaches the youths to use weapons and organize an armed resistance. When Hans is betrayed by a former pal, the Gestapo chases the Edelweiss Pirates, forcing Karl to take a difficult decision to save his brother.

"Edelweißpiraten" shows a sad historic event about a group of youngsters in Köln that were against the regime of Hitler. The story is simple and very dramatic, with great direction, performances and locations. The importance of this production is not the story itself, but to disclose to the world that there were many people in Germany that opposed to the cruelty of the Nazis and that were tortured and destroyed like enemies. The characters are not Jews or allies, but Germans that did not agree with the Nazi Party. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Irmãos de Guerra" ("Brothers of War")
11 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Enjoyed the movie!
everythingeverything-3205422 November 2020
It shows that not all germans were nazis during that time.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
A genuine oddity
Phil_Chester13 July 2019
In many ways, a genuine oddity. It's a period film, yet made with a very modern, handheld shakycam style, where you can barely tell what's happening, as most of the action is missed by the camera whipping past it. Some of the sound is poor, so you have to rely on subtitles, even if you can understand the German. Despite these obstacles, there are some fine performances trying to get out, and it's a heart-rending story of survival in the face of adversity that makes you very glad that you haven't had to live through it yourself. Probably worth a look for German language fans and WW2 completists, but a tough proposition for general film watchers.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
The subject deserved better Warning: Spoilers
"Edelweisspiraten" or "The Edelweiss Pirates" is a co-production between four different countries (one of them being Germany) and the result is that this film is mostly in the German language. The version I saw ran for 96 minutes (including credits), but I see there is also another version out there that is roughly 15 minutes longer. The director and also one of the writers is Niko von Glasow and it is probably even more than a fairly prolific decade after this one was made back in 2004 his most known work. Does it have to do with the cast? Not really, I guess. Jochen Nickel, Anna Thalbach and Bela B. Felsenheimer are all no unknown actors, but also nowhere near the elite of German film performers. As for Bela B., he is still much more known for his performances with German punk rock band Die Ärzte, even if his acting career is also more prolific than most may think. And with Anna Thalbach, I am not only amazed how much she resembles Katharina (like identical twins in different decades), but also that she somewhat nicely pulled off the female lead here as well as in looking both desirable and stunning, but also in terms of looking like a political victim of her time.

And this of course refers to the Nazi years because this is when the film is set and the Edelweisspiraten are a resistance group that did in fact exist for several years, even if hardly anybody outside the historian profession knows about them today. And maybe one reason is that the attention they received, for example with this movie, is not on a level that depicts them as memorable to those interested (theatre audiences in this specific case). Sadly the two brother characters never really attracted my attention and I found them relatively weak and interchangeable. Bela B. was slightly better, but given the material and potential to his character he was also underwhelming. Thalback was okay like I wrote earlier. The Nazi actors did not make a difference either. I believe that with a subject like this (resistance and suffering in 1940s Germany), films need to come up with something special, something that stands out because there are hundreds of films on this subject and if you really want audiences to care, then you need to make a difference compared to all these other films. This film here does not and so it sinks in the gray matter of the genre I just mentioned. Even worse, the horror/torture/violence scenes towards the very end make it look like a desperate attempt to achieve this previously mentioned difference, but it never feels creative, just for the sake of it. Like I wrote in the title of my review, this is quite a shame as these Edelweißpiraten sure deserved a film that accurately and convincingly elaborates on their existence. I hope they get one in the future. This one is not it. Watch something else instead.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
A serious film, despite its title
ksandness30 March 2007
While the title makes it sound like a combination of The Sound of Music and a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, this is actually a serious film about the real-life Edelweiss Piraten, a loosely organized gang of German anti-Hitler youth who harassed the Nazis and hid Jews and others who were in trouble.

It's the last days of World War II, bombing raids are nearly a daily threat, but the Nazis are still very much in charge. The youths use the bombing raids as cover for their guerrilla activities, and not all of them survive. Both they and the people they are protecting are constantly in danger, especially when, like the main character, they have gung ho Nazi sympathizers in the family.

The characters are half-starved and living in rubble, but they still manage to keep their integrity and fighting spirit, all the more remarkable, since they would have spent most of their lives under Hitler.
18 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Refreshing to see new history uncovered
JonathanWalford12 October 2007
Wartime propaganda in North America painted all Germans as evil but it seems that finally enough time has passed since the end of the war that films can explore more subtle story lines. Not all Germans were Nazis and the stories of those Germans who just tried to survive and even some who went beyond and protested the war through their dress and activities are not well known. This film does an admirable job of showing daily life amidst the ruins of Cologne in the closing months of WWII. Short of food and hope, gangs of anti Hitler-youth who call themselves 'Eidelweiss Pirates' listen to French underground jazz music and fill their days with mild acts of protest against the state. Eventually these teenage kids are drawn into the underground through personal circumstance to do their part to terminate the war in any way they can, perhaps foolishly and without forethought but with as much belief in their cause as their Hitler Youth counterparts. Truly a groundbreaking piece of film and a story that needs to be told. The film does suffer from being a bit slow moving, especially at the beginning, and the final scene is overwrought, but these are minor complaints.
16 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
very authentic drama
peterruman19 February 2012
I only heard about the Edelweiss Piraten very recently so I was very curious about the movie, as the the rating of this movie on IMDb wasn't particularly high. I must say I am very glad having ingnored it and following the experience that German history is best served from German movie makers. The fact that the story is being told by a genuine former EdelweissPiraten-member Jean Jülich gives the authenticity of the movie very much credit, as well as the camera. The story is being followed by the viewer always from the point of a direct atendee of the scene which really adds to the dramatic effect. My rating would be 8.7, therefore i choose 9
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Fascinating
neil-douglas201021 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Interesting film set in Cologne during the Second World War and based on true events. The main character is Karl, who is a member of a gang called the Edelweiss Piraten, who dislike the Nazis and fight with the local Hitler Youth ( of which his young brother Peter is a member ). With their mother and older brother dead and father fighting on the front, they rely on their sister in law Cilly for food. Karl fancies Cilly but this all changes when an escaped convict Hans rescues Cilly's son from a bomb which he was trapped under. Hans is a bit of a hothead and takes a fancy to Cilly which displeases Karl. Peter and Karl learn that their father has died, and Peter finds out that his father didn't believe in the war. So he leaves the Hitler Youth and helps Hans and the Piraten against the Gestapo. The Gestapo learn about this and with the help of a traitor find their hideout and arrest Cilly and take her children away. The rest of the Piraten are also arrested as is Hans. Karl hands himself in and pleads with a Gestapo officer to let him and his brother go if he gives Hans up. Peter refuses so is sent to be hanged with the rest. After the Allies arrive Karl is rescued by US troops and turns in the Gestapo officer. Cilly is reunited with her children, so a bit of a "happy ending".

Interesting and well acted film, I hadn't heard of the Edelweiss Piraten before ( and they were similar groups all over Germany defying the Nazi's ). When I go to Cologne next year, hopefully I'll get to see the tribute to them outside the main railway station.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed