Young eagles
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Young eagles |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 (since 1996) previously FSK 6 (since 1980) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Weidenmann |
| script |
Herbert Reinecker Alfred Weidenmann |
| production | UFA-Filmkunst GmbH |
| music | Hans-Otto Borgmann |
| camera | Klaus von Rautenfeld |
| cut | Walter Wischniewsky |
| occupation | |
| |
Junge Adler is a German feature film of the National Socialist propaganda of the Second World War , which was aimed particularly at young people. It represents a group of apprentices who build bomber cockpits in an aircraft factory and develop a motivated community in the process. While largely ignoring the reality of the war, the film works with the means of indirect propaganda. It was made in 1944 by UFA -Film with a playing time of 108 minutes. It was premiered on May 24, 1944 in Berlin . Both the screenwriters Herbert Reinecker and Alfred Weidenmann , who also directed, and some of the young actors such as Dietmar Schönherr , Hardy Krüger and Gunnar Möller made careers in film and television after 1945.
action
Theo Brakke, the arrogant son of the director of an aircraft factory, wins a rowing regatta. Due to poor school performance and risk transfer he had but did not participate. After a discussion with his class teacher, his father takes him out of school and lets him start an apprenticeship in his aircraft factory, because he hopes that the camaraderie that prevails there will strengthen Theo's character.
Theo initially treats the other apprentices at the plant with contemptuous condescension, although they receive him kindly. As the director's son, he feels superior to the others. All attempts by his colleagues and the trainer Roth to integrate Theo into the community fail. Only when his comrades save him from drowning and keep him from being released by his father does Theo realize that his arrogance was a big mistake.
reception
The film premiered on May 24, 1944, on the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of the Hitler Youth's filmmaking, in the presence of the Reich Youth Leader , high party officials and foreign diplomats. The reviews in the National Socialist press were entirely positive. The box-office result amounted to RM 4.5 million up to January 12, 1945, which in the literature is regarded on the one hand as a sign of economic failure, on the other hand, in view of the production costs of RM 2 million, as an economic success.
Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels “liked” the film, whose propaganda function ultimately consisted in telling “the story of a group of apprentices” who “enthusiastically helped manufacture bomb planes in a factory,” and what most of them did Avoided entertainment films at that time, presented "swastika flags and Hitler Youth uniforms". Goebbels regretted that the film was rather a failure with the audience, which was because, he suspected, that "you don't want to see any political films at the moment."
In 1994, the social scientist Horst Pöttker pointed out how innovative the film had been with its dynamic aesthetics and fast cuts: " Young Adler was the late breakthrough, long hoped for by the regime, of the Nazi youth film that had remained conventional until then."
The Allies imposed a performance ban on the film in 1945, as the propaganda film was intended to spark the youth's enthusiasm for war.
The Rated revised the 1980 granted release "from 6 years" in 1996 to the indicator "not released for 18 years." Numerous themes and clichés in the film are therefore suitable for glorifying the Nazi era and thus playing it down. The film enjoys special attention in right-wing circles. When the film was shown in the Zeughauskino of the German Historical Museum in 1997, when the film was introduced by a film historian, there was massive disruption from old Nazis and neo-Nazis.
background
With the film Junge Adler an attempt was made to give an answer to Goebbels' slogan of “ total war” . It shows young people involved in the arms industry. The conception as a youth propaganda film was entrusted to Alfred Weidenmann , who had already made a name for himself as an author and photographer for young people and who headed the film department in the Reich Youth Leadership . Weidenmann brought in his friend Herbert Reinecker , who had also worked in the press and propaganda office of the Reich Youth Leadership. Reinecker drafted the script in which, in addition to Weidenmann, Wolfgang Liebeneiner was also involved.
In addition to well-known actors such as Willy Fritsch , Albert Florath and Paul Henckels , the still unknown Dietmar Schönherr , Hardy Krüger and Gunnar Möller performed . Krüger and many other young actors had chosen Weidenmann from among the students at the NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen , an Adolf Hitler school . The shooting took place in the Ernst Heinkel aircraft factories in Oranienburg and Rostock as well as in the vicinity of Warnemünde . In the autobiographical novel Tadellöser & Wolf by Walter Kempowski , shooting for the film is described, in which the narrator is an extra. Step into life is named as the contemplated title for the film .
The plot of the film is based on the National Socialist educational concept that traditional educational institutions such as the parental home are replaced by the Hitler Youth or the community of peers according to the motto, "Youth must be led by youth". So Theo's father deliberately gives up the task of bringing up children. The adults in the film hardly intervene educationally. While the individualist Theo is absorbed in the community, the musician Wolfgang retains his artistry, but he puts it at the service of the community, for which he composes an apprentice march. This corresponds to Goebbels' demand that art should be viewed as a service to the national community . Overall, the film is characterized by a hostility to intellectuality, in which the physical work of the apprentices contrasts positively with the effeminate high school environment. There are also subliminal allusions to the swing youth . In contrast, true to Goebbels' demand for indirect propaganda, the background to the war is largely ignored. The production of the armaments factory is not destroyed by a bomb attack, but by a factory fire. The apprentices then work extra night shifts. The film indirectly appeals to the young people to demand the highest level of commitment for the war effort.
Trivia
In the Latin lesson , Horace Hor.c.1,1: Dedication to Maecenas is read.
literature
- Rolf Seubert: “Young Eagles”. Fascination with technology and military detention in the National Socialist youth film. In: Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg, Wolfgang Schmidt (eds.): War and military in the film of the 20th century . Oldenbourg, Munich 2003, pp. 371-400.
- Gabriele Weise-Barkosky: “Every boy's longing is to fly”. Job advertisement in National Socialist cultural and feature film . In: Harro Segeberg (Hrsg.): Mediale Mobilmachung I. The Third Reich and the film . W. Fink, Munich 2004, pp. 343-377.
Web links
- Eaglet in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- "Young eagles" with table of contents and 6 still photos at filmportal.de
- Young eagles in the Internet Archive
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gabriele Weise-Barkosky: "Every boy's yearning is flying". Job advertisement in National Socialist cultural and feature film. In: Harro Segeberg (Hrsg.): Mediale Mobilmachung I. The Third Reich and the film. W. Fink, Munich 2004, p. 354 f.
- ^ Peter Longerich: Goebbels. Biography . Siedler Verlag, Munich 2010, p. 562 f.
- ^ Peter Longerich: Goebbels. Biography , p. 563.
- ↑ Quoted from: Volker Helbig: Herbert Reineckers Gesamtwerk. Its social and media historical significance . Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2007, p. 120.
- ↑ Nils Brinkmann: Reserved films - A reserved review by the FSF . In: tv diskurs 38 (2006), p. 63. ( PDF )
- ↑ Matthias Struch: "Old Films" - On dealing with the Nazi film heritage . In: tv diskurs 38 (2006), p. 60. ( PDF )
- ↑ Rolf Seubert: "Young Eagles". Fascination with technology and military detention in the National Socialist youth film. In: Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg, Wolfgang Schmidt (eds.): War and the military in the film of the 20th century :. Oldenbourg, Munich 2003, p. 392 f.
- ↑ Volker Helbig: Herbert Reinecker's complete works. Its social and media historical significance . Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2007, p. 119.
- ↑ Gabriele Weise-Barkosky: "Every boy's yearning is flying". Job advertisement in National Socialist cultural and feature film. In: Harro Segeberg (Hrsg.): Mediale Mobilmachung I. The Third Reich and the film . W. Fink, Munich 2004, p. 353 f.
- ↑ Volker Helbig: Herbert Reinecker's complete works. Its social and media historical significance . Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2007, p. 120.
- ↑ Walter Kempowski: Tadellöser & Wolf, 3rd edition Munich 1996, pp. 339–343.
- ↑ Gabriele Weise-Barkosky: "Every boy's yearning is flying". Job advertisement in National Socialist cultural and feature film. In: Harro Segeberg (Hrsg.): Mediale Mobilmachung I. The Third Reich and the film . W. Fink, Munich 2004, pp. 355-367.
- ↑ Rolf Seubert: "Young Eagles". Fascination with technology and military detention in the National Socialist youth film. In: Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg, Wolfgang Schmidt (eds.): War and military in the film of the 20th century . Oldenbourg, Munich 2003, pp. 392-395.