You can always
distinguish a war film from an anti-war film by the lack of discernible enemies
on either side, or even more so when the country of the origin for the
protagonists comes off worse than those they are fighting against. The Bridge was really the first post
World War II German film to address the topic, and wisely spends most of the
film focused on national critique instead of vilifying the invading/opposing
troops. As well as being the first German anti-war movie, this 1959 classic was
also the first of the country’s post-war films to be widely distributed
internationally, even garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language
Film.
The first half
of The Bridge is far more a
coming-of-age story than it is a war film, following a group of rambunctious
young students in Bavaria , Germany
Because the film
takes its time in getting to the action, we are allowed to spend most of the
film with the young men acting more like boys. They chase local girls, stash
stolen alcohol for later consumption, and are even tossing rocks at cans as
they wait for orders on the bridge. It is only in the final 20-minutes of the
film that the harsh realities of war finally catch up to these naïve young boys,
and playing war is suddenly a far more terrifying and complex endeavor than
they had imagined. The pointlessness of their struggles is hammered in even
further by the revelation that the bridge the boys are defending is intended to
be blown by the German troops anyway.
As slow as the
film is getting started, the final sequence with these young soldiers
attempting to fight the invading American soldiers is as harrowing as many
modern war movies. Tanks and troops approach the bridge after all of the other
German troops have retreated, leaving only the inexperienced young men to face
them. They are slowly picked off in the battle, each with a different reaction
to the true nature of war. Even though they do plenty of damage in fighting
back, the futility of the fight can be seen in the reaction shots from the
young men. It is clear that their glorified vision of war don’t match up with
the true violent nature of battle.
The new Blu-ray
release of Bernhard Wicki’s film features a 2K digital restoration, along with
an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. There are also some new interviews to go
along with a 1989 interview with Wicki and an excerpt from a 2007 documentary
that featured behind-the-scenes footage from the production. Newly included is
an interview with Gregor Dormeister, author of the autobiographical novel the
film is based on, along with filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff about the film’s
impact on modern German cinema. The package also comes with a foldout insert
with an essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 9/10
Historical
Significance: 10/10
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