Unter den Brücken

This truly exceptional film, considered by its director Helmut Kautner to be his best, is even more remarkable in that it was filmed in arduous conditions during allied bombing raids and less than an hour's drive from the ravages of war in Berlin. The director, cast and crew were lucky for in Kautner's words: "We lived dreamily alongside time and distracted ourselves from all the horror through work."

It depicts working-class lives in the poetic realist style of Marcel Carné and echoes the lyricism of Vigo's 'L' Atalante'. Courtesy of cinematographer Igor Oberberg it is an etude of light and shadow whilst the haunting theme tune by Bernard Eichhorn is perfectly suited to the film's elegiac, melancholic mood.

Renowned for his gift with actors Kautner has drawn splendid performances from Hannelore Schroth, Carl Raddatz and Helmut Knuth, all of them familiar to German audiences. There is a simpatico between Schroth and Raddatz which is hardly surprising as they were husband and wife, albeit briefly.

Classified as a 'defector' film, one of those completed at the end of the National Socialist era but not premiered until after cessation of hostilities this masterpiece epitomises Kautner's refusal to use his work in the service of Nazi ideology which enabled him to pursue a highly personal approach to mainstrean cinema. As a result he is one of the true 'auteurs'.

Cinéphiles are obliged to shift tons of **** in order to find a diamond and discovering this beautifully realised, heart-winning film makes the effort worthwhile.

Under the Bridges is another fantastic film from German director Helmut Kautner. The plot of the film centers on a barge on the waterways of Germany in some unidentified time and the relationship between the two owners of the boat. This relationship becomes strained, and develops into a classic love triangle, when a woman comes on board and stays with them for a short time. As is usual of Kautner's films the characters are highly sympathetic and their relationships very realistic and well thought out. Almost anyone can identify with at least one of these archetypal main characters, whether it is the "Damsel in Distress" Anna, the "Loner with a Heart of Gold" Hendrick, or the "Nice Guy" Willy.

The most interesting factor in this film though is one that happens off screen. Filmed in 1945, and often interrupted by overhead allied bombers, this was one of the final films to pass the censors of the Third Reich in March 1945, the month before the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the soon following German surrender. Despite the pervasiveness of the looming military and political disaster that was apparent in Germany at the time the present is entirely absent from the film. The plot takes place in some sort of time out of time that is familiar and identifiable as some time in 20th century Germany, but this is only a vague placement. The timeless quality so embraced is indicative of Kautner's desire to remain apolitical during the war and to remain simply a filmmaker. The blissful ignorance of the film's contemporary political reality gives the film a very escapist quality, a very probable goal of Kautner's.

This film taken in its historical context has a very important message. It seems to largely be saying that no matter what happens on the world stage we are all still human and that no matter what befalls us we continue to survive, thrive, live, and love. This attitude towards human life is something that gives Kautner's films their human quality; that certain feeling that comes through them which seems to say "Despite all that happens, we must maintain hope."

"Under the Bridges", made in the last year of the Third Reich, proves that artistic genius can flourish even under the most difficult circumstances. The film completely transcends its time and presents a simple love story, the themes of which are universal. Through both his settings and his actors, Kautner achieves a naturalism which has seldom been equaled. That he managed to do this in 1944-45 Germany is almost unbelievable. A fortunate and unexpected treasure from a most unfortunate time.

Recently I wrote about the films of Wolfgang Staudte who made political films in the 50's, when most Germans preferred to forget about politics. "Unter den Brucken" is made by Helmut Käutner at the end of World War II. He made an a-political movie when the pressure to make a propaganda movie must have been enormous.

"Unter den Brucken" is a film about two men (Hendrik played by Carl Raddatz and Willy played by Gustav Knuth) and their old barge. They both have sometimes girlfriends but are longing for a stable relationship. One night they see a sad girl on a bridge (Anna played by Hannelore Schroth) and fear that she might commit suicide. They convince her to come onboard and when they both fall in love with her the story really gets going.

A story about men working in inland shipping and their complications with women sounds like "L'atalante" (1934, Jean Vigo) and that's true. However "L'atalante" is an all time classic and "Unter den Brucken" an almost forgotten film. That's not right, because "Unter den brucken" is in my opinion not the lesser one of these two films. It has a good story (right mix of romance and comedy) good actors and beautiful images.

There are beautful images of river landsscapes but also of the barge entering Berlin. The last mentioned images reminded me of Harry and Monica leaving Stockhom in "Summer with Monica" (1953, Ingmar Bergmen). By the way, given that the shooting took place in the final stages of World War II, it is a miracle that there is no war damage visible in the Berlin scenes.

The best thing of the film is the camerawork in the scenes between Hendrik and Anna. There are several of them.

• Anna cannot sleep because of the unusual sounds on the barge. Hendrik explains them one by one.
• Anna taking care of a small wound on the hand of Hendrik. Meanwhile they keep looking at each other.
• Hendrik leaving the appartment of Anna in Berlin. Anna looks out of the window and her shadow is projected on the walls of the building block on the other side of the street.
• Anna running up the stairs (only her legs are visible) when Hendrik is back from Rotterdam.

Another comment said that this film "completely transcends its time". That's true, but I wonder how the contemporary audience interpreted this "transcendence". Was not-talking-about-war in the last days of WW2 understood as talking about war in a different way or simply as escapism?