Stukas
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Stukas |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1941 |
| length | 2687 meters / 99 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK reserve film |
| Rod | |
| Director | Karl Ritter |
| script |
Felix Lützkendorf Karl Ritter |
| production | Karl Ritter Gustav Rathje |
| music | Herbert Windt |
| camera |
Hugo von Kaweczynski Walter Meyer Heinz Ritter Walter Roßkopf |
| cut | Conrad from Molo |
| occupation | |
| |
Stukas is a German war film by Karl Ritter from 1941. The propaganda film was made with the support of the Luftwaffe .
It is a reserved film from the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation . It is part of the foundation's portfolio, has not been released for distribution in Germany, and may only be shown here with the consent and under the conditions of the foundation.
action
The main characters in the film are pilots of two squadrons of German dive-bomber aircraft . The film does not have a stringent plot, the narrative continuity is repeatedly broken. Instead, camp and dogfight scenes alternate. Several aviators die and are honored by their comrades. This dying happens "off-screen" and is only reproduced orally. Some are captured or make their way back to the camp from behind enemy lines. A subplot shows three airmen making their way back to the base through unoccupied France, forcing a French company to surrender.
In another subplot, a German officer is seriously injured and has been suffering from depression ever since . He was taken to the Richard Wagner Festival by a good-natured nurse . In the orchestral interlude Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt from the opera Götterdämmerung , he gains new courage to face life and returns to his comrades, who greet him frenetically. In the end the battle is against England .
production
The film was meticulously planned and prepared before going into production. A storyboard with drawings contains detailed pictures. Two passages with the title “Traumtanz” and “Hotelzimmer” were not taken over. The scenes that were probably already filmed are now lost.
The aim of the film was to show as many applications as possible of the Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber . Karl Ritter used documentary material for the portrayal, for example the bombing of English ships off Dunkirk and the attack on a Belgian fort. This gave the film an authenticity unknown at the time.
propaganda
Stukas is one of the "contemporary" propaganda films during National Socialism, a genre that was largely influenced by Karl Ritter. The films were adapted to the conditions of National Socialism and the more recent developments of the Second World War and represent a kind of countermovement to the Russian revolutionary film. Stukas therefore also plays in the then current Western campaign and contains documentary scenes from Dunkirk and Belgium as well as from the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth . The song sung by the airmen together refers to the Battle of Britain , which was still going on when the film premiered.
Ritter was primarily concerned with the willingness to make sacrifices for the national community and the "unimportance of the individual". He was particularly interested in cinema as a “nationalist ideology factory” with which he could spread his national convictions.
"The path of German film will have to lead uncompromisingly to the fact that every film must be in the service of the community, the nation and our leader."
These beliefs are inherent in the film. So all planes correspond to the Aryan ideal of the National Socialists. However, they only represent types, the film does not have any real character drawing. Instead, Ritter chose the dialect to show the connecting parts of the national community. Bayer and Berliners fight side by side in the film. Class differences were also deliberately avoided, with the lower ranks, such as mechanics and servants, being portrayed more as “simple minds”.
They carry out their assignments with great enthusiasm and a strong optimism. Between the missions, there is a party with the superiors. The enemy, the French in the film, is shown either as an anonymous crowd or as a constantly complaining bunch of ridiculous characters.
Another important motive is the music. On the one hand Richard Wagner , whose Siegfried overture was first played by the company commander with the Bechstein grand piano and then led to the recovery of a soldier who attended the Richard Wagner Festival. Also Siegfried's Rhine Journey is heard in the fight scenes. On the other hand, the hit Bel Ami , which is also played. At the end the squadron sings the "Stuka song" with a text against England in their machines.
publication
The film premiered on June 27, 1941, five days after the start of the Russian campaign . The film found its audience in the Third Reich and grossed 3.18 million Reichsmarks within seven months . The film met everyone's taste, as the flight scenes in particular were an attraction for the audience. He was particularly popular in the soldiers' cinemas and among young people. "Büscher-Film" (UFA ATB) published an abridged version of Super 8 in the 1970s. It consists of two 120 m rolls and has a running time of around 40 minutes. A restored DVD version was released in the USA in 2013.
criticism
Stukas is one of Karl Ritter's last war films before the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda banned the topic of war from cinemas.
After its release, the film received the ratings “politically valuable”, “artistically valuable”, “popularly valuable” and “youthful”. He missed the two highest awards for films under National Socialism. This was probably mainly due to the form of its staging, which “lacks any elegance”. Even the fact that there was hardly any film criticism left in the Third Reich was amazed at the lack of continuity in the film and wrapped hidden criticism in the prescribed praise of the film.
If this rudeness and the sometimes coarse humor were not a hindrance at that time and also not particularly noticeable due to the lack of other directors and films, Stukas is by today's standards "not a good film" and Karl Ritter can only be rated as a "mediocre talented director". However, you have to keep in mind that the film was implemented exactly as it was intended. Despite the (hidden) criticism, it found its audience and served its purpose as a propaganda strip.
See also
literature
- Wolf Donner : Propaganda and Film in the “Third Reich” . TIP-Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-931668-41-X .
- Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg, Wolfgang Schmidt (eds.): War and the military in the film of the 20th century (= contributions to military history . Volume 59 ). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-486-56716-0 , p. 349-370 .
Web links
- Stukas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Stukas at filmportal.de
- Stukas at Murnau Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Wolf Donner : Propaganda and Film . TIP Verlag, Berlin 1995, p. 104 .
- ↑ Stukas. (No longer available online.) Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation , archived from the original on September 9, 2012 ; Retrieved November 17, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b c Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: Bernhard Chiari, Matthias Rogg , Wolfgang Schmidt (Eds.): War and the military in the film of the 20th century . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2003, p. 349 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 357 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 365 .
- ↑ a b Ritter quoted from Wolf Donner : Propaganda and Film . 1995, p. 103 .
- ^ A b Wolf Donner : Propaganda and Film . 1995, p. 103 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 363 .
- ^ A b Wolf Donner : Propaganda and Film . 1995, p. 105 .
- ↑ a b Erhard Schütz : Aviator heroes and rubble culture. Air force and bombing in the National Socialist feature and documentary film . In: Manuel Köppen , Erhard Schütz (Hrsg.): Art of Propaganda: The Film in the Third Reich . Peter Lang, Bern 2008, p. 111 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 361 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 356 .
- ^ Rainer Rother : "Stukas" - Timely film under war conditions . In: War and the military in 20th century film . 2003, p. 361 f .
