Die in the dirt
Movie | |
---|---|
German title | Die in the dirt |
Original title | God with us (Dio è con noi) |
Country of production |
Italy Yugoslavia |
original language | Italian |
Publishing year | 1969 |
length | 103 minutes |
Age rating | FSK 16 |
Rod | |
Director | Giuliano Montaldo |
script |
Andreas Barbato Lucio Battistrada Ottavio Jemma Giuliano Montaldo |
production | Silvio Clementelli |
music | Ennio Morricone |
camera | Silvano Ippoliti |
cut | Franco Fraticelli |
occupation | |
|
Die in Dirt (original title: Gott mit uns (Dio è con noi)) is an Italian - Yugoslav film from 1969 about the execution of two German Wehrmacht soldiers on May 13, 1945 by German prisoners of war in a Canadian prisoner of war camp in Amsterdam . The film is based on a true story.
The film is also known by the alternative titles Bloody Dust and God with Us .
action
The film takes place in 1945 in the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. The Western Allies have already landed in Europe and Canadian troops are stationed in Norway and the Netherlands. Two German deserters , Ensign Bruno Grauber and Captain Reiner Schultz, are captured by Canadian soldiers shortly before the end of the war. You will be taken to a Canadian prisoner of war camp. The highest ranking German officer in the camp, Colonel von Bleicher, is a career officer.
The German soldiers who were captured find out that Grauber and Schultz are deserters. In the world view of the Wehrmacht soldiers, such an offense is unforgivable. Von Bleicher organizes a military court in the camp and charges both of them with cowardice . You will be sentenced to death and will be executed on the fifth day of peace . Von Bleicher can persuade the Canadian camp commandant to consent to the execution and to provide him with weapons and ammunition.
The Canadian General Snow tries - initially unsuccessfully - to persuade the Canadian camp commandant Captain Miller to agree to Bleicher's request. The execution should maintain discipline. He offers Miller a promotion to major. Miller finally agrees and the deserters are executed five days after the surrender on May 8, 1945.
background
The film is based on the true story of two German sailors, Bruno Dorfer and Rainer Beck , who were executed as deserters on May 13, 1945 by the German military justice system, which continued to work unmolested in Canadian captivity. Beck had deserted from the Navy for fear of persecution due to his Jewish origins. In the feature film Black Book , the incident is on the edge of the plot.
The words God with us were originally the motto of the German emperors and later also of the German armed forces. In the original Italian title, the saying - in German - is part of the title.
Awards
- Nastro d'Argento for Silvio Clementelli as Best Producer (Migliore Produttore)
- Nastro d'Argento nomination for Giuliano Montaldo as best director (Regista del Miglior Film)
Web links
- The croak in the dirt in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Chris Madsen (1993): "The Execution of German Deserters by Surrendered German Troops Under Canadian Control in Amsterdam, May 1945" (PDF, 2.5 MB)