Review of Everyone Dies Alone

"Everyone Dies in His Own Company" or "Everyone Dies Alone" is a West German film from 1976, so this one has its 40th anniversary this year. Do not get fooled by the photo posted here on IMDb as this is not a black-and-white film. In the late 1970s, pretty much everything was in color. And as director Alfred Vohrer is mostly known for his Karl May films today, it should not be a surprise that this one here is in color as his older works also weren't black-and-white films during a time when it was still the general rule. But back to this one here: The two writers are Miodrag Cubelic and Anton Cerwik and they adapted one of the late career works by writer Hans Fallada. It takes place during World War II and follows a couple in their 50s how they deal with the loss of their son who dies in combat. This changes the woman's state of mind to a position that is very critical against Hitler and his military strategies. But it does not only stay theoretical. She writes anti-war and anti-Hitler messages on little notes and distributes them among the population. Her husband soon finds out what she does and decides to support her. Of course, it does not take long until the Gestapo is alerted and tries to find the non-believers to kill them. Fallada wrote his novel based on Otto and Elise Hampel, who were the real Quangels active in the resistance after Elise's brother had been killed in combat. The lead actors here are Hildegard Knef and Carl Raddatz and they both play their parts very convincingly. But also the supporting cast (that includes some known names) does a pretty good job with what they were given. This 100-minute film never drags and the titles proves oh so painfully true at the very end. This is one of the best German films from the 1970s in my opinion and a contender for Best Picture of 1976. I highly recommend the watch. On a little side-note: There will soon be a new version of the story starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson as the couple. Lets see if this one becomes just as good. Until then, watch this old version. You really don't want to miss it. It's emotional, politically impactful and a great character study. Highly recommended.