Penal Battalion 999 (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Penal Battalion 999 |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 109 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harald Philipp |
| script |
Wolfgang Quantity Harald Philipp based on the novel of the same name by Heinz G. Konsalik |
| production | Willy Zeyn junior |
| music | Willy Mattes |
| camera | Heinz Hölscher |
| cut | Elisabeth Neumann |
| occupation | |
| |
Strafbataillon 999 is a German war film made in 1959 by Harald Philipp with Sonja Ziemann in the leading role.
action
The film is set in the German Reich in the late phase of World War II . Minor misconduct is enough to be charged with treason or cowardice before the enemy. These usual legal standards derisive “judgments” were usually followed by a death sentence that was carried out immediately afterwards . Soon, however, the Wehrmacht leadership realized that soldiers sentenced to prison or execution for minor offenses were pure waste of “cannon fodder”. The Wehrmacht is in retreat in the east, every healthy man is urgently needed. Therefore, a special unit is founded to give these condemned soldiers a "second chance", the chance of parole: the Penalty Battalion 999 . As part of this unit, men, communists or deserters convicted of minor crimes are called up to so-called "ascension commandos" and sent to the front.
Daily life (and death) in the penal battalion is documented dramatically on the basis of an individual fate. The bacteriologist Ernst Deutschmann was convicted because he was accused of self-mutilation in order to evade military service. The truth lies elsewhere, however: Deutschmann undertook a self-experiment to develop a serum. But with his experiment he stood up to the SS in general and their member Dr. Kukil, who wrote a corresponding report against Deutschmann, in the way. Now he too has the chance to prove himself by serving in the Penal Battalion 999. Deutschmann's wife Julia is fighting at home to have the sentence reversed against her husband and therefore has to deal with Kukil and the relevant SS Standartenführer. Both men try to take advantage of Julia's situation, whose husband is far from home, and approach Frau Deutschmann in an inappropriate way.
In the battalion camp, Ernst Deutschmann meets other soldiers who have been punished just as severely as the former officer von Bartlitz, who acted against the orders of his superiors when he withdrew to save the lives of his soldiers. She and the other condemned comrades are subjected to a particularly tough test when Sergeant Krüll takes over command. The beefy, stocky NCO with a loud command tone is considered a merciless grinder. He and the other officers have no reservations about mercilessly drilling and burning their subordinates, because there is never a shortage of human supplies. Opposite the sadistic-inhuman Krüll is Oberleutnant Obermeier, a civil officer who treats his subordinates like people even in exceptional situations. In the end, however, the simple soldiers at the front have to stand by their husbands and are burned one by one in a criminal war.
Production notes and trivia
Penal Battalion 999 was created in autumn 1959 and was premiered on February 11, 1960 in Munich.
Erwin Gitt was in charge of production. The film structures were designed by Hans-Jürgen Kiebach , the costumes were designed by Ilse Dubois .
The actual penal battalion was called penal division 999 .
Reviews
"Toughness plus temperament: This tried and tested recipe, especially German war films, was what the author Heinz G. Konsalik (" The Doctor of Stalingrad ") and director Harald Philipp (" The Old Försterhaus ") relied on in their elaboration on a parole battalion from World War II. They offer a whole catalog of familiar standard motifs of local film production: the noble doctor and researcher with the obligatory self-experiment, the decent officers and the harassed NCOs, the loving Russian girl and the brutal partisans, the coarse-humorous "Schützen Arsch" with East Prussian dialect and the lieutenant with an Ordensburg past. The battle scenes offer the usual effective motifs, such as the Soviet tank known from "08/15", which spins over the foxhole. "
In the lexicon of the international film it says: "A novel adaptation that traces the war with ruthless directness, but does not go beyond the horrific description of the state."
Web links
- Penal Battalion 999 at filmportal.de
- Penal battalion 999 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Penal Battalion 999. In: Lexicon of international film . Film service , accessed November 10, 2015 .