Der Stern von Afrika

A "master" discovers the things in life - German-Spanish war film with Joachim Hansen and Marianne Koch

What are we dealing with here? Is this just misrepresentation of history? Or even glorification of war? Or just stupid and naive?

It tells the story of the German pilot Jochen Marseille, who achieved some fame in the Nazi regime by shooting down other pilots numerous times during the Second World War. The attractive actor Joachim Hansen (1930-2007) portrays him as a hyperactive child who simply lands his plane on the highway to ask people for directions. As a Luftikus who constantly gets into trouble with his superiors, which his friend Robert Franke (Hansjörg Felmy) has to get him out of. In the desert camp at the time of the war, the Berlin jet man, who was so successful in shooting down other planes and causing death to other pilots, was simply a good friend to his comrades (including Horst Frank). He even treats his colored servant Mathias (Roberto Blanco), who is actually more of a slave, with warmth. This super guy with ADHD problems can't even be deterred by a wise billiards player (Erich Ponto) in Paris. And during a visit to his old school, in the presence of the director (Siegfried Schürenberg), he doesn't act like Paul Bäumer from Erich Maria REMARQUE's novel ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, as he had secretly hoped, but instead talks very well about the desert sand. The only thing missing is the autograph session...

Only the lovely Marianne Koch as the young teacher Brigitte can ignite the smart enforcer for the beautiful things in life, but by then it is already too late. So much stupidity simply shouldn't be rewarded!

The film was directed by Alfred Weidenmann and written by Herbert Reinecker. The premiere was on August 13, 1957 in Hanover. The impressive aerial photos were taken with the support of the Spanish Air Force. The exterior shots in Berlin, Munich, Rome, Seville and the Canary Islands were extremely well done. The desert scenes were filmed in Poland, on the largest sand dune in Europe.

This film was a breakthrough for the young actors Joachim Hansen, Hansjörg Felmy and Horst Frank. And it was fine like that! As a result, a new tone and a different physical play came to West German screens. Nevertheless, when you see this film you can't help but think of the film within the film "Pride of the Nation" from "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Daniel Brühl in the role of Frederick Zoller as an eerie revenant of Joachim Hansen and Jochen Marseille. It's a bit scary!

A German production from one of the best film studios in the world. Based on a story of a young and daring Luftwafe pilot, becoming a legend from the skies of Europe. Behind a German love story, between this young pilot and a pretty school teacher. Great stories and images this film leaves us.

I watched this film right after a screening of Käutner's "Grosse Freiheit Nr 7", which premiered in December 1944. And suddenly I realized, what it is that makes Käutner's film a true masterpiece: "Star of Africa", even though a "war" film, lacks the atmosphere of war totally. It is a superfluous, totally empty film with nothing much in it to recommend it. "Grosse Feiheit", which doesn't show a single swastika (neither does "Star of Africa" to that matter) is nevertheless shrouded heavily into that special gloomy mood, which tells us that there is a REAL war out there, a war that is soon to be lost for good; and that's what makes one film tense and bitterly sad, while the other film, though heavy with air fights, battlefield situations and actual footage (thrown quite pointlessly here and there), is reminiscent of a fifties TV show.

This film (both English dubbed and subtitled version) can be ordered from International Historic Films.

The story shows the career of a once famous german flyer nobody remembers today... After ww2, these guys, who were styled to be the pop stars of the third reich, still were quite popular. People didn´t think of them as nazis or war criminals, but as young men with a noble profession: Pilots of the german luftwaffe. The picture has a lot of air fights, a love affair and oldfashioned acting in it. If that is something you like, take a closer look at the video that is still available in germany.

"Der Stern von Afrika" is an odd film. It's about the military career of one of the country's aces from WWII, Hans-Joachim Marseille. Considering the country's fascist past, I am surprised they'd do ANY films about WWII...especially only a dozen years after it ended. They managed to do something even odder...they glorified the man while never really talking about the Third Reich or even saying much about the war! And, probably to appease many in the audience, they even showed scenes where officers questioned why they were fighting and how the war was not about 'justice or freedom'....things which possibly would have gotten the officers arrested had they been caught actually questioning the war! Because of this, the film is seriously flawed...as if it's missing the context for everything.

The story begins with Marseille in flight training school and none of his early life is really addressed. What did he thin about the war? The film in no way answers any of this. Instead, it offers a safe, sketchier view of the man...as if he really had no inner life. Again, considering when and where it was made, none of this is very hard to believe.

When you watch the air battles in the film, you'll notice most all of these are done with models...which certainly isn't ideal. However, to me this was far better than employing tons of grainy stock footage (the reason I hated the 1970s film "Midway" as it was almost all stock footage). Additionally, in 1957 very, very few WWII-era German aircraft were left...let alone in flying condition. So, as a result, I didn't freak out that the Bf-109 planes shown fighting the Battle of Britain were NOT the right type. They should have been Bf-109 E or earlier models...and the models they used appeared to be Fs which came out later. Again, considering everything, it's not that important and few people (other than nuts like me) would even notice! Considering everything, while the battles look a bit cheesy, it's about the best the filmmakers could have done.

Overall, a mildly interesting war film that is missing some obvious things which I mentioned above. Still it is interesting if you love history, though it also made me wonder if the Germans made films about other WWII aces...especially Erich Hartmann who shot down twice as many planes as Marseille and managed to survive the war. Of course, in Hartmann's case, shooting down so many planes was much easier as he fought on the Russian front and many of the Russian planes (at least until late in the war) were obsolete and relatively easier to shoot down than the mostly British planes Marseille shot down (mostly in North Africa).

By the way, I would love to know more about the black character, Mathias. He was kept by the Luftwaffe pilots as a pet or mascot of sorts. I cannot imagine this ever happening in light of Nazi opinions about blacks and other 'untermensch'.