The Murderers Are Among Us
by Wolfgang Staudte
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DVD details
Actor: Elly Burgmer, Erna Sellmer, Hilde Adolphi, Hildegard Knef, Marlise LudwigDirector: Wolfgang Staudte
Brand: First RUN Features
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); German (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-05-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
DVD Reviews of The Murderers Are Among Us
DVD Review: A moving story of guilt, redemption and hope; German expressionism and documentary realism
Summary: 4 Stars
"Report for December 24, 1942. Execution. 36 men, 54 women, 31 children, 347 rounds of ammunition"
It's now Berlin, a year after Germany surrendered. The city is little more than destroyed buildings and mountains of uncleared rubble. Susanne Wallner (Hildegarde Knef) has made her way to a crumbing apartment building where she lived before being sent to a concentration camp in 1943. She finds her apartment is now occupied by a man called Hans Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert). He's withdrawn, depressed, sardonic, and he refuses to leave. She finally says that she is moving in but that he can stay a few days until he finds other quarters. Mertens, it turns out, is a doctor who has lost all desire to do anything but drink. He had been a surgeon assigned to the Germany army in Poland. As he and Susanne tentatively develop feelings for each other, two things happen. He discovers the man who had been the captain of his unit in 1942 is now in Berlin, a happy and confident factory owner, father of two, and untroubled by any war experiences. Ferdinand Brueckner (Arno Paulsen) is a brisk little man with thinning hair, rimless glasses and a small mustache. He tells Mertens, "Every era offers its chances if you find them. Helmets from sauce pans or sauce pans from helmets. It's the same game." Mertens plans to shoot him.
Mertens also is called to help a young girl who is slowly suffocating. He reluctantly identifies himself as a doctor. He does not want to do anything, but knows the girl will die if he doesn't take emergency steps. He winds up realizing a new self-worth in his skills as a doctor. He and Susanne begin a much happier time together. Then Christmas Eve brings back all the memories of an atrocity he tried and failed to stop, and of the captain who gave the order to shoot dozens of hostages while he prepared a Christmas Eve celebration for his officers in a village in Poland. Mertens is determined this time to see that justice is done, and so be it if that means he must be a murderer, too. He finds Brueckner in Brueckner's darkened factory. The conclusion is tense but not without hope.
This sounds almost melodramatic. The Murderers Are Among Us, however, is anything but. The film was the first movie made in Germany after WWII. It's a sad, thoughtful reflection on the crimes Germany committed and on the need for some kind of accountability. Weaving through the sadness of Mertens, however, is the recognition of how important hope is. The movie, itself, is so well photographed and edited that it remains a gripping piece of work. The film was shot in Berlin and all the bombed-out buildings, the rubble and the sight of Berliners struggling to live is real. Director Wolfgang Staudte brings an effective mixture of expressionism and documentary realism to the film. He creates some wonderful scenes of angled stairways, broken windows, low, upward shots and harsh shadows.
And a word about Hildegarde Knef. She has always been one of my favorite actresses. She was an attractive woman but no Hollywood starlet type. She had a long face, a strong mouth, intelligent eyes with a mind you could see working. When she came to La La Land and Hollywood couldn't figure out what to do with her, she shrugged and immediately headed back to Europe, where she became an international star. She had a great success later on Broadway as Ninotchka in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings. She's one of the best reasons for watching The Lost Continent. (Eric Porter is the other.)
The DVD transfer has the quality of a good VHS tape. The audio is almost as good. Considering the environment of the story, this is not a serious drawback. There are two worthwhile extras. The first is a biography of Staudte, the other gives background on how the film came to be made.
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Description of The Murderers Are Among Us
Critically ranked in the top ten of Germany's 100 most important films, Wolfgang Staudte's THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US is a haunting film about personal accountability and the process of healing in post war Nazi Germany. The first feature film produced amid the ruins of East Germany after World War II, under the auspices of the newly created DEFA Studios, THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US featured the budding star Hildegard Knef. Susanne Wallner (Hildegard Knef) is a concentration camp survivor who, despite unspeakable experiences, is filled with a desire to return to some semblance of the routine of her former life. She wants to move back into her Berlin apartment, but soon finds that Dr. Hans Mertens has taken up residence. Once a successful specialist surgeon, Hans cannot return to his medical practice after the war, incapable of tolerating the sound of anguish and human despair. She offers to share the apartment with Hans until he can find other lodging, but soon finds herself drawn to the troubled, self-destructive, and angry young man who is trying to suppress his terrible memories through excessive drinking. With Susanne's help, Dr. Mertens slowly returns to his former self. But first he must confront his former commanding officer, now a prosperous and respected businessman, over a wartime atrocity. THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US is a compassionate portrait of hope, resilience, and personal atonement. Rooted in the tradition of German expressionism, Wolfgang Staudte juxtaposes realistic filmmaking with rapid montage sequences, unusual camera angles, and sharp lighting contrasts to create a disorienting harsh reality that reflects the fractured lives of the war's survivors. What emerges is not a menacing portrait of a faceless Cold War enemy, but a poignant tale of profound humanity and a sincere, desperate cry for justice.Ranked by critics as one of Germany?s most important films, The Murderers Are Among Us offers a wrenching look at history and humanity. The first feature film produced in Germany after World War II, it is set in Berlin just after the surrender, and the city is still being battered by air raids. The characters move through the half-destroyed husks of old buildings, and even simple acts like serving a meal at a table take on new meaning as the people try to put their lives back together. Susanne Wallner is a concentration camp survivor, eager to taste life again after her living death. Dr. Hans Mertens is a former German officer, unable to live with the guilt of what he and his former comrades have done. The two must quite literally learn to live side by side as they come to terms with the past and start to look toward the future. The film is beautifully and sensitively made, and possesses a shining optimism that is surprising for its time. --Ali Davis
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