Kameradschaft

Based on an actual mining disaster, this early German talkie (with English subtitles) still remains one of the most effective docu-dramas ever filmed. Featuring many non-professional actors, "Kameradschaft" gives a chilling view of the friendship that binds the mine workers, regardless of which side of the French/German border they may be from. A deadly accident brings out the very best in everyone, nullifying any superiors' orders. A fellow miner in need will receive the help of his comrades, even at threat of great loss, including life.

This film reminds of the self-sacrificing heroism shown by the NYFD following the 9/11 attacks. Putting aside any formal rules and regulations, these men and women in uniform knew only one cause: to save lives, and to find their fellow-fire fighters. -- More than 70 years later, "Kameradschaft" still has the strong and timeless message: A friend in need is a friend in deed.

This, the finest achievement from Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Social Realism period is based upon a tragedy in early 1906 that claimed the lives of nearly 1100 French miners as a coal dust explosion deep in mines at Courrieres in northern France took place after a fire had smouldered for three weeks, eventually releasing deadly pit gas that brought about the fatalities. Estimable designer Erno Metzner creates stark sets that simulate the tragedy, providing a perception of reality, augmented by matchless sound editing, with the only music being produced by integral orchestras during the beginning and ending portions of a work for which aural effects possess equal importance with the eminent director's fascinating visual compositions. Pabst's manner of "invisible editing" that segues action from shot to shot through movements of players proves to be smoothly integrated within this landmark film that also showcases sublime cinematography utilizing cameras mounted upon vehicles, enabling the director to shift amid scenes without having a necessity of cutting. Although the work's cardinal theme relates to Socialist dogma, the unforgettable power of this film is held in its details, born of Pabst's nonpareil skill at weaving numerous plot lines into a cinema tapestry that stirs one to admiration for German rescue squads of whom their Fatherland is greatly proud while no less despairing of disastrous losses to the families of French victims; certainly, a seminal triumph fully as stimulating today to a cineaste as it was at the time of its first release.

Regarded by many as the highpoint of German socialist film-making this fourteenth film of G. W. Pabst is a companion piece to his earlier 'Westfront 1918'.

Based upon the mining disaster at Courrieres in 1906, the director has cleverly chosen to set his film in the mining communities on the Lorraine/Saar border just after the end of the first World War which enables him to show the tensions and mutual distrust between top dog France and underdog Germany.

What strikes one most about Pabst's film are the claustrophobic mine galleries which have been built from scratch in the studio by Erno Metzner and which facilitate the roving camera and effective lighting of the legendary Fritz Arno Wagner whilst Pabst's mastery of crowd scenes is put to stunning use in its depiction of mass anguish.

Viewers will no doubt spot Alexander Granach who was to flee Germany for America and Ernst Busch, an avowed Communist who survived despite being on the Nazi hit list.

This sober, restrained masterpiece with its naively optimistic plea for international brotherhood, although critically well received, was unsurprisingly disdained by both French and German audiences.

The final, symbolic scene in which the iron barrier between the French and German mines is re-established in the presence of stern looking military officials is not only grotesquely ironic but gives dreadful note of the horrors to come.

The special effects are top notch, very superior to the Hollywood standards of its time (just compare this film to "San Francisco", made five years later). Most reviewers write about how realistic this film is, but the mine interior was entirely recreated in studio. And it looks like a real claustrophobic coal mine. Amazing! Technically it is superb. About the story and the message a lot has been said, so no need to repeat how good and necessary this film was. I saw it with the epilogue sequence included. Sad end, but it is realistic in this point too. Good intentions meet the old dark forces. Just read Oscar Wilde's "The young king". Its end is even more pessimistic. At least, Pabst opens a door to fight and hope. The closed frontier is only an advice: beware! the fight won't be easy.

Kameradschaft (1931)

*** (out of 4)

German propaganda film which is based on a true incident that happened in 1906 but the film updates the setting to current day 1931. Tensions are running high between French and German miners until the French suffer an explosion and several miners are trapped underground. The German's send in two rescue teams to try and save the French. This is a highly impressive film but like a lot of German films in this period, there's more style than substance, which in the end keeps it from being a great film. The visual style of the film is terrific and it makes the film come off very realistic. The director does a great job inside the mine and the claustrophobic sense we get is very strong. There are countless great shots in the film but I feel they get in the way of the story, which at times drags in certain spots. After the explosion happens there's a good fifteen-minutes of downtime before the rescue team shows up and these down moments come off pretty boring. Outside of that the film is very good and it was also interesting seeing how miners worked back in the 1930s.