Good WW2 movies from the German perspective?

[angminas]

Enemy at the Gates was a fantastic book. The most well-researched book I've ever read.

 

[grrl]

For those interested in the above debate the book 'War Without Garlands' discusses the question of radicalization of the general staff and lower ranks as well as the attitude of the average soldier. It uses correspondence from the first year of the Russian invasion for much of its source material.

 

[PJABBER]

I never watch movies with the assumption that they are historically accurate, even if they claim to be based on true stories. You clearly know a lot more about the history of the Nazi party than I do, so I'm not going to disagree with you.

I thought Valkyrie was a good movie about what it would have been like for Germans who opposed Hitler and risked their lives to try to bring him down. It made you think about the choices that Germans had to make and why so many, who may not have believed in the cause, still did nothing to oppose it.

I did not like Valkyrie, either with Cruise or the original German version, Stauffenberg, though that one is a bit better.

Es geschah am 20.Juli (Jackboot Mutiny) by noted director Georg Wilhelm Pabst is probably the most accurate depiction as the director did not add much if anything to the historical record.

Der 20.Juli is a good film, also made in the '50s, directed by Dr. Falk Harnack, who was himself a member of the resistance. He uses fictional characters to portray some dramatic elements but this is also mostly accurate. Probably the most watchable of all of these.

Die Stunde der Offiziere, a docudrama, also makes a go at historical accuracy with eye witness reports and original footage. The German documentary TV channels like to run this one.

 

[PJABBER]

Enemy at the Gates was a fantastic book. The most well-researched book I've ever read.

While the film reflects the book accurately, I would still consider it to be entertainment, rather than a great history.

For example, there was a real Vassili Zaitsev, but it is not documented that there was German Major Erwin Konig (named Heinz Thorvald in the book,) dueling with him in the ruins of wartime Stalingrad.

Most of the movie is pretty good entertainment and the director did a good job in trying to maintain some element of accuracy, but there are some nitpicking details that will stand out if you study this kind of stuff.

 

[gonvik]

Das Boot is highly recommended -- it stands with the best of WW2 films.

Cross of Iron is vastly under-seen. It was directed by Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch).

I think my favorite WW2 film is The Big Red One. It is from the American perspective for the most of the running time, however, it does change at parts to introduce us to the lead German character. The ending, which involves both Lee Marvin and the German, is one of my favorites in a film.

Sam Fuller directed, and actually served in WW2. His depiction of D-Day (cutting to a watch on a dead soldier as time lapses) in the film is often mentioned. The DVD which contains the "Restoration Cut", while not personally Fuller's cut, it is the closest to what you will get of his original vision.

 

[totalnoob]

I know this is a bit late, but thanks for all the recommendations yall. My Blockbuster queue now has a good number of war movies.

 

[JEDIYoda]

We also have search resultsThe Boy In The Striped Pajamas

 

[Ronstang]

Das Boot was pretty cool because the english dub was actually done by the actors themselves, so it's not shit like most other dubs.

True, but watching the German language version with English subtitles is still the best way to watch the movie. I have seen it both ways.

 

[GTaudiophile]

The new film North Face is currently scoring 100% on RT. I will be seeing it tomorrow.

 

[FoBoT]

Triumph Of The Will

this ^^^^
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will
available from netflix

Leni Riefenstahl's infamous propaganda film documenting the Third Reich's 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally features a cast of thousands -- including Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Rudolf Hess, Hermann Goering and other top officials. Images of cheering crowds, precision marching, military bands, banners lining Nuremberg's streets and Hitler's climactic speech illustrate with chilling clarity how Germany fell under his spell.

 

[Rudee]

We also have search resultsThe Boy In The Striped Pajamas

Good book. Terrible movie. It was such a bad movie I watched it at home on DVD and nearly got up and walked out of my own house.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Probably a MUCH better read. That being said, I haven't seen the movie and will give it a shot, but the book is just epic.

Top 250 on IMDB and Top 100 on AFI would suggest that the movie is comparable in quality.

 

[uberman]

Der Hauptman Von Kupernick / The Captain of Copernick was a prewar silent film. It is a comedy in which a man how has nothing is kicked about by the towns people until he buys an old uniform at a yard sale and attains instant status. Now he is invited into restaurants for free food. At one point he commandeers a group of soldiers and takes over the town.

It's a silent film, a comedy, and it enlightens you as to the German peoples respect for the uniform which Hitler exploited with his garish designs.

 

[LegendKiller]

While Das Boot was good, I think the book Iron Coffins was far better.

 

[OutHouse]

If you enjoy near-revisionist history.

There are lots of great books on the German perspective. Though it's not about the Western Front, read Hitler's Army which takes a good stab at explaining the Nazi experience in Russia and how it helped forge the Wehrmacht as a stonghold of Nazi ideology.

speaking of books here are two of my favorites.

Soldat (memoirs of a German officer)
http://www.amazon.com/Soldat-Reflect.../dp/0440215269

and
Forgotten Soldier (memoirs of a German infrantry grunt in Russia)
http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Sold...ref=pd_sim_b_4

 

[OutHouse]

Der Hauptman Von Kupernick / The Captain of Copernick was a prewar silent film. It is a comedy in which a man how has nothing is kicked about by the towns people until he buys an old uniform at a yard sale and attains instant status. Now he is invited into restaurants for free food. At one point he commandeers a group of soldiers and takes over the town.

It's a silent film, a comedy, and it enlightens you as to the German peoples respect for the uniform which Hitler exploited with his garish designs.

garish designs? i have to disagree, I hate the nazi's however the uniforms are sharp and very well thought out for appearance.

 

[OutHouse]

Strongly disagree.

Hitler was deadly afraid of the Wehrmacht during the first few years of his reign, and with good reason. The German High Command was ready to throw Hitler out if the French showed any signs of mobilizing in response to the re-militarization of the Rhineland.

By the late 1930s, though, the Wehrmacht (on all levels) was fairly radicalized and flush with Nazi ideology and Hitler's lackeys. Once Fritsch was replaced by Keitel, the Wehrmacht became a tool of the Nazi party. Of course individuals held differing beliefs, but the vast majority of the army, even among the officer corps were ready and willing servants of Hitler in the same way that nearly all the lower-level soldiers, particularly those on the front lines, were as well.

i disagree. the Wehrmacht as a whole were not Nazi's. yes there was Nazi's indroctination but it was more geared towards fighting for National pride and the Fuhrer not the party. that was the job of the SS.

 

[GTaudiophile]

The new film North Face is currently scoring 100% on RT. I will be seeing it tomorrow.

I saw "Nordwand" last night.

Highly recommended!