With our heroes on the Somme

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Our heroes on the Somme
With our heroes on the Somme.jpg
Country of production German Empire
original language German
Publishing year 1917
length 46 minutes
Rod
production Image and Film Office

With our heroes on the Somme is a German silent documentary film from 1917, which was produced by the Image and Film Office and used for propaganda purposes during the First World War .

background

At the time of the First World War, the film medium was still a relatively new means of propaganda. It was first consciously used as a propaganda tool to form opinions . Influencing opinion was based on the respective war goals .

Propaganda was used primarily as a means of psychological warfare . The aim of using the new media was to reach as many people as possible. Propagandist films complemented caricatures , leaflets , postcards and posters. This was intended to spread inflammatory messages towards the enemy, but also to motivate people to persevere in war and to move them on an emotional level. Among other things, they were used to inform the population about what was happening at the front and to mobilize them for the war.

action

The documentary is divided into three parts, with the audience being informed about the plot in the subsequent silent film scenes with a short text before it is shown.

Part 1: Behind the German front

After many months of the summer battle , German doctors take care of “the wounded enemy” and lift the stretchers with the wounded into a converted medical tram. In the following scene exhausted French and British are depicted in the citadel of Cambrai , for whom the war is already over. While the Allies are depicted tired, wounded and exhausted, the Germans are depicted as strong and powerful, despite the description “The reserves of exhausted Germany!” With an endless queue of reserve troops with spiked hoods marching through Cambrai, hauled train columns , ammunition columns , floodlight trains, bridge trains move through the towns and roads between Cambrai and Bapaume with pontoons and mortar units . This image is reinforced by the depiction of cheering German storm troops in open trucks on their way to the front . The next scene begins with the words “German railway workers rescue French refugees from the ruthless fire of their own compatriots”, which shows French refugees pulling through the village in horse-drawn carriage or boarding freight trains. Bapaume is seen here as “the weak victim of the French and English will to war”, as the city is tantamount to a ruin due to the destroyed country roads and smoke-blackened, partly completely destroyed house remains.

Part 2: The fighting in the forest of Saint-Pierre-Vaast

The soldiers lay mines in the forest and try to “alarm the enemy on the flank”. The actions mainly take place at or near the forest stream, from where hand grenades are also dropped by German soldiers. The aim of the German soldiers is to distract the enemy in order to get to the main attack point, which they then succeed in doing. After the attacks in the forest, a group of prisoners including colored colonial soldiers is shown.

Part 3: A hot fight at Bouchavesnes

Pioneers mine a tunnel with explosive charges, but close the tunnel entrance on it and lay the ignition cable in a trench. Then the field gun is loaded and fired. Mainly firing guns and grenade impacts are shown, as well as the preparation of the soldiers for the following attacks, who are in the trenches and try to protect themselves. After the attacks, the following is displayed: “Report from the section to the division: The attack was successful. Commanded goal achieved. Taken numerous prisoners. “Thereupon a column of French prisoners marches on the way to the assembly camp, where drinks are distributed for them.

interpretation

As usual for propaganda, the film plays with emotionalising words. The Germans are portrayed as a strong nation that is always superior to the enemy, but still helps him after defeat. This is particularly illustrated by the scenes in which German doctors lift the wounded enemy into a medical tram or by supplying the Allies with water after the battle. The films were intended to mobilize the population to go to war, which also explains why no scenes of injured or dead German soldiers are shown. The population should not be deterred by this. The German soldiers are never shown exhausted, but confident of victory, combative and patriotic. The enemy, on the other hand, is portrayed as helpless, exhausted and depressed. Various blame for the destroyed cities, roads and surroundings apply to the allied nations. With these means the main aim was to provide the German nation with a public image of cohesion and, by omitting certain scenes, to put one's own nation in a positive light and consequently to stimulate the fighting spirit of the population and to advertise war bonds .

abnormalities

When looking at the documentary, it is noticeable that, especially in the second and third parts of the film, mostly the same scenes are shown. A longer shot seems to have been taken from one point of view, these were then cut into several parts and shown repeatedly at different intervals, but with a different text.

Trivia

The BUFA sent cameramen to the front to document the events. As a result, the recordings were checked by employees of the authority and then censored. The consequences, suffering and misery of the war were enormously played down by the BUFA.

The film At Our Heroes on the Somme premiered in Berlin in January 1917 and was based on the film The Battle of the Somme , shot in Great Britain and one of the most successful documentaries in Great Britain. However, the German version of the film did not come close to the authenticity of its British counterpart and could therefore not build on the success of the British version.

Some scenes in the film have been recreated. The film is still shown in certain German cinemas and museums today.

literature

  • Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg, Wolfgang Schmidt: War and the military in the film of the 20th century . Oldenbourg Verlag, January 1, 2003, ISBN 9783486596243 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uni-Kiel: Lexicon of Film Terms , accessed on February 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b Habsburger.net: War of Words and Images - Propaganda in the First World War , accessed on February 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c Federal Agency for Civic Education: History of War Propaganda , accessed on February 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b c d War and the Military in 20th Century Film . Oldenbourg Verlag, January 1, 2003, ISBN 9783486596243 .
  5. ↑ a b Cinema Window Dossier: First World War in Film
  6. ↑ Dresden cinema calendar , accessed on February 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ Koki-Freiburg: An examination of heroic discourses , accessed on February 28, 2017.

Web links