Officer's Factory (1989)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Officers' factory |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany , Czechoslovakia |
| original language | German , Czech , French , Russian |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 357 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wolf Vollmar |
| script | Wolf Vollmar |
| production | Mondada movie |
| music | Emil Viklický |
| camera | Ivan Šlapeta |
| cut |
Juliane Lorenz Wolf Vollmar |
| occupation | |
| |
Factory of the Officers is a German mini-series with four parts. It was produced in 1988 and released in 1989.
The series is a remake of the 1960s Factory of Officers and is based on the book of the same name by Hans Hellmut Kirst .
action
Part 1
The experienced first lieutenant Karl Krafft, who took part in the fighting in Stalingrad in the winter of 1942 , was transferred to an officers' school in a “small Bavarian town”. The 16th War Officer Course will take place there from January 10 to March 31, 1944.
A few days after he died during an explosives exercise on January 26th, Lieutenant Barkow was buried in the war school . Captain Feders suggests that the supervisory officer did not die in an accident during the pioneer training , but was murdered by one of the ensigns.
Krafft is assigned to the parent company and is supposed to clear up an alleged rape: three mediators are said to have raped a non-commissioned officer . By questioning those involved, Krafft finds out that the women only wanted to have fun. However, the chief war judge Wirrmann also wants to get involved in the investigation as a trained lawyer. Krafft refuses, although Wirrmann wanted to take care of the matter at the request of company commander Kater. When Wirrmann brings up the subject again during the officers' meal, he is interrupted by Major General Modersohn.
In the following simulation game " Major fire in the barracks ", Krafft shows the errors in the watch regulations and thus criticizes his direct superior, the company commander Kater. On the pretext that he should have reported the grievances when he noticed them a few days earlier, the general ordered the lieutenant to come to his office the next morning.
In a conversation between Wirrmann and Kater, the two discuss the general's attitude, which they don't like. Wirrmann promises Kater a new head of the facility if he can provide him with material that shows “a rejection of the Führer” or explains the general's interest in the death of Lieutenant Barkov, who recently died.
When Krafft went to Major General Modersohn the next day, the two talked about the reasons for the first lieutenant's transfer to the officers' school. Above all, it was the fact that Krafft is not afraid to report a superior and is therefore considered an “uncomfortable subordinate”. The general then transfers Krafft from the parent company to the supervisory officer of the "Supervision Heinrich" and makes him the direct successor of Lieutenant Barkow. Modersohn is convinced that it is a murder, since Barkow has already carried out complicated demolitions on the Eastern Front and before his death he made unmistakable hints that he believed to be unbelievable at the time. Krafft is the second person, after Wirrmann, to whom the general communicates his findings. Nevertheless, the Judicial Council is of the opinion that it was an accident. Modersohn believes that the murderer is under "Heinrich's supervision".
Part 2
After Oberleutnant Krafft has been appointed by General Modersohn as the successor of the unfortunate Lieutenant Barkow - as will turn out in Part 3, the general's biological son - as a supervisory officer, his course commander, Major Frey, invites him along with his tactics teacher, Captain Feders, and his Inspection chief, Captain Ratshelm, invited his wife to a so-called “little socializing”. Its outcome was a fiasco from the point of view of the class-defying commander's wife . At her insistence that he immediately relieve the unsuitable Krafft, the major calls the general to get a rebuff, because he naturally does not want to do without his new "murder investigator". Thereupon Frey now reproaches his wife for her interference and also curses his new subordinate.
In the course of the film, several aspects come into play: Frey and Ratshelm's incomprehension towards Krafft and his increasing friendship with Feders, who in turn is hostile to Kater. Feders accuses Kater of a capital crime in the casino when he feels disturbed while playing chess with Krafft, and orders a bottle of cognac at his "expense".
The film ends with a get-together between Feders and Krafft in his apartment, during which the captain talks about his injury and the resulting loss of manhood, which is a burden on his marriage.
part 3
After General Modersohn once again put pressure on Krafft to clarify the Barkow case, Krafft begins to extensively observe and test the ensigns. When the dead man's mother comes to visit, Redwitz advises him to look for the murderer in the first rows. With this and with a very conspicuously written essay, Hochbauer comes more and more into the circle of the suspect.
Hochbauer also sensed this and confided in the officer council helmet. When Major Frey disapproved of non-German names by special order, this gave rise to a fight among the ensigns in the Bunter Hund , which was only used as an excuse for ensigns Weber, Mösler and Redwitz to wipe out Hochbauer. This gives the officers such as Captain Kater, who Krafft is not benevolent, motivation to denounce him to the general and to play up the incident. Krafft explains to the general that the blockade of these officers is only used as a tactic to ban him from school. General Modersohn, however, is not inclined to dismiss him because of his assignment to Krafft when Krafft tells him that it seems to be a result of Barkov's death.
Kater is relieved of his job and placed under captain Feders, who has developed into a close ally of Krafft. Krafft also learns from him about an invalid at Villa Rosenhügel , to which he retires when he is depressed . A good friend of Feders' watches over her there, but one day he is given the task of putting the invalids to sleep. Feders and Krafft later prevent this by force of arms by forcing the doctor responsible to forge a document and getting it out of the way. This and the Barkow case also endanger the love between Krafft and Elfriede, which on the one hand is threatened by a hangover and accidentally discovered by Ratshelm when he surprises her in Krafft's quarters. Krafft pretends to be his fiancée . Kater blackmails Elfriede Rademacher to find out more about Krafft's assignment and invites her over.
Part 4
Krafft uses a visit from the newly engaged couple to Hauptmann Feather's apartment instead of opening Elfriede to Kater and making it clear to him that Elfriede will be left alone.
In the meantime Ensign Hochbauer has become the favorite of Major Frey's wife, which has not remained hidden from Ensigns Redwitz, Weber and Mösler. As proof, they get the lady's handkerchief from his possession. Frequent visits to Hauptmann Ratshelm are also registered. The ensigns persuade Hochbauer, whom they do not trust a relationship with a woman, to prove this to a Maria Kelter. When the two of them meet, it is interpreted as rape. Krafft, who had previously received a personal confession from Hochbauer during a reenactment of the crime, but cannot use this as evidence, is given a chance to detour through the ensigns.
The scarf of the Frau Major, the visits to Ratshelm and the rape give him cause to put Hochbauer before an expulsion procedure. Major Frey takes the chair, the defense council helm, which Krafft rejects because of his bias. However, Krafft is supported by Feders, who acts as a specialist advisor. When Maria's testimony and the visits do not lead to any result, Krafft shows the major the handkerchief of his wife, who leaves the place of negotiation in a fit of rage after the exclusion has been announced.
Hochbauer then shot himself in the toilet the following night. While Krafft and Modersohn consider the case to be closed, it is used to alert Judge Wirrmann. This is one step closer to his goal of getting the general down from his high pedestal. The point is that Barkow was killed because he made statements that degrade the military strength, which the general covered by his behavior. He had wanted to make this clear to the general earlier in the hand, whereupon the general insulted him and ordered him back. Now Wirrmann is hoping for help from the cat and council helmet. He wants to use Krafft to bring the general to the gallows. Krafft should remain unmolested if he helps him. But Krafft does not think about it and worsens his position with an extensive dissident eulogy at Hochbauer's funeral. Like the general who approved the speech, he is arrested and sentenced to death. Major Frey is then appointed Modersohn's successor.
epilogue
After the fate of the surviving main characters had been shown after the end of the war, the original long version ended with a jump in time to the post-war era: the rebellious and courageous Redwitz, now a journalist, stands on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn and philosophizes about the effects of the bitter past on the German present and Future. While the sincere had to lose their lives in the resistance struggle against the Nazi regime , the supporters who were loyal to the line and the followers were able to continue their careers in the Federal Republic. This conclusion , which criticizes the insufficient coming to terms with the past , was cut out again in a later adaptation at the instigation of Wolf Vollmar as screenwriter, director and producer.
Retrospectives
The history of the most important characters is told in retrospectives , which usually appear immediately after their first appearance. They always begin with the full name, date and place of birth and the names and professions of the parents. The flashbacks in childhood and youth of the protagonists are separated from the main plot by a somewhat brighter picture, calm music and by narrator Gert Heidenreich . The information given here is not absolutely necessary for an understanding of the film, but offers an insight into the social origins and motivations of the following people:
- Lieutenant Krafft
- Captain Hangover
- Captain Feders
- Major General Modersohn
- Captain council helmet
- Major Frey
- Elfriede Rademacher
- Ensign Hochbauer
- Ensign Mösler
- Ensign Redwitz
Others
- The song Just don't cry out of love in the film, interpreted by Hana Hegerová , dates from 1939 and was originally sung by Zarah Leander .
- The ensigns singing together with Krafft is the folk song Wild geese rushing through the night , which was a popular marching song with the Wehrmacht .
Publications
The film has previously been released on VHS on four cassettes and has also been available on DVD since 2005 . In contrast to the VHS, the DVD no longer contains the epilogue. The latest version has been marketed by 3L Film GmbH & Co.KG since 2010. It contains a two-part making of the filming.
Reviews
"A lesson on civil courage in Nazi Germany."
"The actors in this new production - above all Manfred Zapatka, Thomas Holtzmann and Karl-Walter Diess - are excellent."
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Zarah+Leander&titel=Nur+nicht+aus+Liebe+weinen&cat=s
- ↑ Quote on DVD front 2010
- ↑ Quote on DVD front 2010