The secret fortress
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The secret fortress |
| Original title | La forteresse suspendue The Hidden Fortress |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2001 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roger Cantin |
| script | Roger Cantin |
| production |
Rock Demers , Chantal Lafleur |
| music | Milan Kymlička |
| camera | Allen Smith |
| cut | Simon Sauvé |
| occupation | |
| |
The Secret Fortress is a Canadian children's film from 2001. It is an offshoot of The Snowball War (1984).
action
The children from the campsite on the north side of a lake are waging war against the children from the campsite on the south side of the lake. So far this year the children on the north side have lost every battle; so did this attack.
After the children have been splashed with mud from the north side, they meekly go back to the campsite. There they receive a lecture from their parents. Marc Cabot is hit particularly hard. His father, a wealthy businessman, runs the campsite. There are only rich people at the campsite on the north bank, while workers are on vacation at the campsite on the south bank. Marc's father now makes it clear to him that, as the rich, they are among the winners. And that he has to make an effort to be part of it. Just as the rich are the winners in real life, so the children from the north bank would always emerge victorious from the annual war.
At the campsite on the south bank, a woman talks about the long tradition of war. As a child, she fought her current husband in the great snowball war. In this war a dog that had ended this first war died. From this snowball war, the war on the lake arose, with its many rules, so that no one is harmed again.
Since Marc was only encouraged and he knows nothing about the background of the war, he, as a leader, undertakes several attacks on the children from the south bank together with the children from the north bank. The war escalates more and more. In the beginning everyone still adheres to the old rules. But soon these are disregarded and so it comes to the use of increasingly dangerous weapons such as bees. Finally, children from the south bank are captured, humiliated and tortured by the children from the north bank. Girls take off a boy's pants before being hit with sticks.
However, some children have doubts about the meaning of the war. Sarah Cabot from the north bank and Julian from the south bank eventually fall in love. They meet secretly in the evening and also talk about the war. The only reason that you can think of is that the war is being waged because the others are there. Julian thinks this reason is absurd. But Sarah replies that real wars have no better reason.
Through the torture, the children on the north bank learned that two children from both camps were meeting. They immediately suspect that they are exchanging military secrets; which is not the case. Eventually, Sarah and Julian are discovered at one of their secret meetings. You can escape from the other children and run into the forest. The other children take up the chase; one of them accidentally sets a tree on fire, causing a forest fire. The children run back to the campsite, but Sarah and Julian are cut off the way back.
The next day the fire is extinguished, but the two children are not back. So the parents of both campsites go looking for them. The adults get into a heated argument among themselves. Each accuses the other of being to blame for the disappearance of the children. Sarah and Julian could withstand the forest fire and watch the arguing adults. Nobody really wants to grow up at this sight. Finally they run to them, whereupon the adults get along again.
background
The secret fortress is an offshoot of the first part of the Tales-for-all film series - The Snowball War of 1984. There it was about a similar topic. Two groups of children wage war with each other, which only ends when a dog is killed during the bitter battle. Some children from The Snowball War play back as adults in The Secret Fortress .
Reviews
“An adventure film for children reminiscent of the classic War of Buttons , which presents play as a consciously experienced challenge, but at the same time shows limits and appeals to fairness and responsibility. It becomes clear that the game is also subject to age limits and that it becomes less important when other interests such as first shy love gain the upper hand. "
"A decent children's film about power and intolerance."
Awards
The secret fortress won the children's jury's second prize at the 2001 Chicago International Children's Film Festival. In 2002 the film was nominated for a Genie Award for best sound.
Web links
- The secret fortress in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Pictures of the film on lechflimmern.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The secret fortress. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de