A Tragédia da Mina

The name of this film alone made me want to see just what it was all about, so I taped this film during the early hours of the AM. If you ever wanted to see what miners had to go through during the early days and actually see a dramatic scene when the mine crumbles in on the men. This film clearly wants to show that Germany and France can work together and be friends after WW I and how the Germans came to the aid of the French miners much to the unbelief of the French townsfolk. The actors were all outstanding, with unusual scenes in the mine with a horse and a small young boy who worked in the mine. There is an old old retired miner who manges to go down the mine by ladder when the elevator breaks down. If you are a real film buff, this is a film you will not want to miss.

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.

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.