The tribunal
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The tribunal |
| Original title | Hart's was |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English , German |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 125 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 12 JMK 14 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gregory Hoblit |
| script |
Billy Ray , Terry George |
| production |
David Foster , Gregory Hoblit, David Ladd , Arnold Rifkin |
| music | Rachel Portman |
| camera | Alar Kivilo |
| cut | David Rosenbloom |
| occupation | |
| |
The Tribunal is an American war film from the year 2002 , directed by Gregory Hoblit . The main roles are played by Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell . The film is based on a literary model by the author John Katzenbach . It was released in German cinemas on May 30, 2002.
action
In December 1944, shortly before the end of World War II , the young US lieutenant Thomas W. Hart fell into the hands of the German Wehrmacht on a reconnaissance trip near Malmedy in Belgium during the Ardennes offensive .
After the interrogation, the Germans send Lt. Hart to a prisoner of war camp near Hemer , a so-called Stalag ( Stalag VI A ). Here, by order of the American Colonel (camp senior officer) William A. McNamara, he is housed in a barrack in which soldiers of lower ranks are quartered. McNamara suspects that Hart may have given information about military secrets during the interrogation during the torture (there are corresponding time leaps in the film).
A few days later, two African American officers, Lincoln Scott and Lamar Archer, came to the camp on another transport . They are also quartered in Harts' barracks and discriminated against and ostracized from the start because of their skin color. The Germans found a tent anchor suitable as a weapon under the Archer bunk. Archer is then immediately shot by the Germans against all martial law . Scott accuses Sgt. Bedford of putting the tent nail under Archer's bunk for racist reasons and denouncing him.
When Bedford is murdered shortly afterwards, Lincoln Scott is suspected. Colonel McNamara persuades the camp commandant, Colonel Werner Visser, to be allowed to carry out legal proceedings to clarify the question of guilt - albeit under great time pressure. He hires the Lt., who has not yet graduated as a lawyer. Tough with Lt. Scott. Visser, who also studied law in the USA, and McNamara each try to influence Hart in the exercise of the "defense mandate".
Initially, Hart does not know that Colonel McNamara is preparing a major breakout from the Stalag at the same time, along with other prisoners, to destroy an ammunition factory disguised as a shoe factory near the camp. Little by little, the truth is revealed to Hart.
In his closing argument, Hart suddenly and obviously untruthfully admits that he himself committed the murder. Colonel McNamara can hear that before he climbs into the escape tunnel. When the German officers notice the outbreak, there is said to be a mass shooting of American officers, which is prevented by McNamara's return to the camp gate after the ammunition factory has exploded. So McNamara gives his life to protect the soldiers and other officers. He is shot by the German colonel. In the credits it says that the American soldiers were able to return to their homeland after the end of the war.
criticism
The film magazine Cinema wrote: “The final punch works like a wake-up call, but it doesn't reduce the impression that Gregory Hoblit (' Twilight ') made a lame propaganda film about the righteousness of brave US boys. American moral sauce with Nazi garnish. ”The German film and media evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title particularly valuable.
background
Jonathan Brandis originally had a role in this film. But that part was cut out of the finished film. There has been some speculation in the media that this disappointment contributed to Brandis' suicide in 2003.
Differences from the book
In the book, Hart is shot down as a navigator of a bomber between North Africa and Italy. Lamar Archer does not exist in the book, Lincoln Scott comes to the prison camp alone. In the book, Visser did not study law in the USA, but lived English in Germany and as a child or adolescent in the USA. His military rank is also different. Hart does not take on the murder in the book, but searches for the murderer in closed rooms at night despite his fear. McNamara is also not shot because only three prisoners have escaped
Web links
- The Tribunal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for The Tribunal . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 90437 / V).
- ↑ Age rating for Das Tribunal . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ John Katzenbach: The Tribunal: Thriller. German at Droemer Knaur , Munich, 2015. ISBN 978-3-426-51479-5 (Original Hart's War, 1999)
- ↑ Cinema.de: film review
- ↑ a b c d John Katzenbach: The Tribunal . Droemer-Knaur, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-426-51479-5 , pp. 22; 51; 516 f .; 559; 672 .