ok (movie)

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Movie
Original title OK
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1970
length 80 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Michael Verhoeven
script Michael Verhoeven
production Rob Houwer
music Axel Linstädt
camera Igor Luther
cut Monika Pfefferle
Michael Verhoeven
occupation

ok is a German feature film by Michael Verhoeven from 1970 . It is based on a true story that happened in November 1966 during the Vietnam War . The film was shot in black and white in order to be closer to the aesthetics of the television war reporting of the time .

content

Young actors, still unknown in 1970, briefly introduce themselves while they slip into American uniforms . You are probably in a forest in Bavaria , because the actors speak Bavarian dialect .

The soldier Rafe reports to Captain Vorst about the events of one autumn day. He tells him about a patrol : he and his comrades stopped a girl who passed them on his bicycle.

Out of boredom, the soldiers begin to eagerly control the pretty young girl Phan Ti Mao and quickly harass them . She has to undress and endure an intense body search , whereby each of the soldiers is allowed to check carefully whether his predecessor has not missed anything during the search . One of the soldiers went on and raped the girl to the applause of his companions. The other soldiers don't want to lag behind him and also attack the girl. When it is the turn of the reporting soldier, he refuses to participate, but neither has the courage to stand by the victim. Instead, he collapses and becomes a plaintive and weeping eyewitness. He crawls over to the girl and, while one of his comrades is attacking her again, whispers in her ear that she shouldn't be sorry because he'll tell the captain about everything that has happened.

When the men have had enough of the girl, they let him go and ask him to go away naked and without his bike. But one of the soldiers is overcome by greed one more time, he holds the girl and pushes her down again. In her desperation and fear, the girl threatens the last perpetrator with her father. He then grabs his bayonet and stabs it with the words "I kill you, you pig".

The captain listens to the story, but feels that the reporting soldier is a traitor and, after enjoying two glasses of gentian, comes to the conclusion: “The murder took place outside civilization, namely on the battlefield. A criminal complaint would damage the cause of peace ”. Rafe is sent back to his comrades. In the jungle there is peace and quiet again. It's all "o. k. ".

Reviews

“The Munich filmmaker Michael Verhoeven had this true event re-enacted in the Bavarian forests - with authentic names, in US uniforms and e.g. Partly with Brechtian alienation effects. His message: Even if a war serves to 'secure freedom', it makes atrocities possible. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Despite good representation and photography, the intended criticism does not have its full effect because the hidden tensions and desires for aggression that lead to brutalization have not been developed and related to each other convincingly enough. Well suited as a basis for discussion for adults. "

- Protestant film observer

The Berlinale scandal

Verhoevens ok was invited by the selection committee of the Berlinale 1970 as an official German contribution to the competition. Due to the content, which was perceived as controversial, the festival jury under its President George Stevens decided after the screening to return the film to the selection committee and to request a renewed examination of whether the film would be suitable for participation. It was questionable, it was argued, whether the film promoted understanding between peoples, as prescribed by the statutes of the Berlinale. Dušan Makavejev , a jury member from Yugoslavia , disagreed with this procedure and Stevens' pressure on other members and opposed this course, which he perceived as censorship , and other jurors did the same. A public debate broke out, which was further fueled by Verhoeven and his producer Houwer, the premiere cinema Zoo-Palast was occupied. Other filmmakers protested and withdrew some of their films, and finally the jury gave up. The Berlinale had to be canceled - for the only time so far - the film screenings were suspended, with a few remaining exceptions, and no prizes were awarded. Festival director Alfred Bauer resigned temporarily and the future of the Berlinale seemed completely in question. Verhoeven's scandalous film was only the cause, not the cause, of this crisis, which was due to the heated Berlin climate of the time and the dissatisfaction with a program that excluded less established cinema. The 1971 Berlinale was organized from a new perspective.

Another version

The same material was used in 1989 by Brian De Palma in The Damned of War .

Quotes

“Back then, films like 'ok' drove many to white heat. The worldviews were represented much more rigidly than they are today, and those who, for example, clearly spoke out in favor of the Vietnam War, simply couldn't stand my film. Today you are much more indifferent, you let events pass you by. The Iraq war may have cost a party some sympathy in the election campaign, but it is no longer a fight on the street. In addition, this war was processed very effectively in the media - the media are not just scouts, but cover-ups. That is why consumers are much more corruptible than they were before, when such films still caused a real shock. "

- Michael Verhoeven

Awards

At the awarding of the Federal Film Prize ok won the awards for the best young actress (Eva Mattes) and the best screenplay.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ok In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 23, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 303/1970
  3. ↑ Interview in the "amnesty international-Journal", February 2006

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