A Tragédia da Mina

Fire and collapse threaten the lives of hundreds of French miners in this B&W masterpiece released in 1931. Director Pabst uses the occasion of the collapse as a statement against war. Despite animosities between France and Germany, some German miners assemble a rescue team, cross the border and go underground to aid those trapped below.

The film is amazing in its depiction of mining--the claustrophobic working conditions, the dusty blackness, the danger. The verisimilitude is so convincing that it feels like actors must have been at risk themselves.

Despite language differences and the fears that war promulgates, French and German teams manage to save numerous miners. During the hours that the rescue efforts are being undertaken, the film depicts various points of view and brings together a number of subplots: a grandfather who fears for his grandson trapped in the mine; the townspeople united by their common fears and helpless feelings; a woman who longs to leave behind the inevitable heartbreaks that life in a mining town offers, but is drawn back by her love; the German miners who recognize their commonalities with the miners on the other side of the border.

This is an important story, reminding the viewer that humanity should always trump nationality.

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.

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.

This film, along with WESTFRONT 1918, are my favorite Pabst-directed films and I enjoyed them more than his much more famous films which starred Louise Brooks (such as PANDORA'S BOX). It's probably because both are very similar to the Neo-Realist films that the Italians perfected in the 1940s and 50s. This style film called for using non-actors (just typical folks) in everyday settings in order to create intensely involving and realistic films.

In this case, the film is about French and German coal miners, so appropriately, the people in the roles seem like miners--not actors. The central conflict as the film begins is that there is a huge mine located on the Franco-German border. Instead of one big mine, it is divided at the border and German workers are not welcome in the French mine, despite there being greater unemployment in Germany. This, language differences (illustrated wonderfully in a dance hall scene) and WWI conspire to create a huge rift between the factions--resulting in a WE vs. THEY mentality. Later, an explosion causes a huge collapse in the French and the Germans refuse to sit back and do nothing. Risking their own lives, they prove that there is true comradeship between miners and men in general.

The film is a strong criticism of xenophobia and tried, in vain, to get the German audiences to see the futility of war and hatred. It was a gorgeously moving film with some of the scariest and claustrophobic images I have ever seen. Considering history, though, the film's impact was minimal at best. It's a real shame, as like this one, WESTFRONT 1918, JÁACCUSE (Gance) and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Milestone) had great messages of peace and harmony but ultimately were failures in positively swaying public opinion. So, from a historical point of view, it's an amazing and sad relic that is well worth seeing.

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.