In the winter of 1943, against the background of battle scenes, a young German Lieutenant who increasingly distrusts the inhuman Nazi ideology struggles with the concept of war.
Direction
Wisbar's documentary-style combat footage feels stolen from hell itself
Acting
Hansen's quiet disintegration—watch his eyes surrender before his mouth does
Production
Minus-fifteen-degree location shooting; actors actually suffered
Director
Frank Wisbar
Joachim Hansen
Oberleutnant Wisse
Wilhelm Borchert
Gen. Friedrich Paulus
Wolfgang Preiss
Major Linkmann
Carl Lange
General von Seydlitz
Horst Frank
Feldwebel Böse
Peter Carsten
Gefreiter Krämer
Richard Münch
Oberstleutnant Kesselbach
Günter Pfitzmann
Wachmeister Kunowski
Sonja Ziemann
Katja
Gunnar Möller
Leutnant Fuhrmann
Ernst von Klipstein
Ein General
Armin Dahlen
Major Stanescu
Karl John
Generaloberst Hoth
Alexander Kerst
Kriegspfarrer Busch
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in West Germany during the harshest winter in decades; the government denied military equipment so they used modified farm tools.
One of the first German films to portray Wehrmacht soldiers as victims AND perpetrators—released the same year as 'Hiroshima Mon Amour,' both wrestling with national shame.
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