Werner Holt, a young Luftwaffenhelfer in an anti-aircraft gun crew stationed on the eastern border of Germany in the last days of World War II, is awaiting the attack of the Red Army with his friend and commander Gilbert Wolzow. Holt recalls the last two years of his life: his meeting with Wolzow, their conscription, his experience as an assistant in an anti-aircraft battery. He remembers how he began to lose faith in the war's aims, after witnessing the brutal crushing of the Slovak National Uprising and having a sexual encounter with an SS officer's wife, which left him disgusted. After that, he realized that his father's claims about millions of people being murdered in the concentration camps were true.
As the Soviets attack, Wolzow orders his ill-equipped soldiers to hold to the last man. Holt flees, only to hear that his friend was himself accused of treason by an SS blocking detachment. He arrives in time to see Wolzow hanged. Enraged, Holt grabs a machine-gun and mows down the executioners. He then deserts.
The film sold more than three million tickets in East Germany alone,[2] and was well received in the Soviet Union.[3] It was one of the relatively few DEFA pictures to be released in West Germany, where it enjoyed considerable success, as well.[4]
Director Joachim Kunert, writer Claus Küchenmeister and cinematographer Rolf Sohre all won the National Prize of East Germany, 2nd Class, on 6 October 1965.[5] The film was also selected as the best film of the year by the readers of the magazine Junge Welt, and its producers were honored with the Erich Weinert Medal. Abroad, The Adventures of Werner Holt received the Prize for the Best Anti-Fascist Film and the Prize of the Soviet Peace Committee at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival,[6] as well as an honorary diploma at the 1965 Edinburgh Film Festival. In addition, it was granted an honorary medal at the 1966 Carthage Film Festival.[7]
On 6 February 1965, the National-Zeitung columnist Hartmut Albrect wrote that the picture contained "extraordinary, well-made scenes that convey deeper messages than those immediately noticed." Günter Sobe from the Berliner Zeitung dubbed the picture "remarkably authentic", having "a powerful effect." Critic Ulrich Gregor praised Kunert's decision to split the plot into two storylines in order to deal with the chronological inconsistency of Noll's book.[8] The German International Film Lexicon described the picture as "one that causes shock … and warns against misguided ideals."[9]
Sabine Hake cited The Adventures of Werner Holt as one of the most notable films that, using a modernist style, challenged the traditional East German anti-Fascist narrative by introducing a more personal perspective to the theme.[10] Anke Pinkert, too, viewed it as a picture that dealt with the issue in a more realistic manner than previous works.[4]James Chapman wrote that the "flashbacks and the stream-of-consciousness techniques" employed by the director enabled Kunert to present "a fully rounded protagonist".[11] Daniela Berghan included the film among DEFA's Anti-Fascist classics.[12] Authors Antonin and Miera Liehm classified it as one of the "army epics", a genre that used the setting of the German military to convey strong criticism of the country's militaristic tradition.[13]
In 1996, The Adventures of Werner Holt was selected by a commission of historians and critics as one of the hundred most important German films ever made.[14]
References
^Paul Cooke, Marc Silberman. Screening War: Perspectives on German Suffering. ISBN978-1-57113-437-0. Page 76.
^Ralf Schenk. Der Panzer rollte direkt auf uns zu 2012-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. Superillu, 30 August 2006.
adventures, werner, holt, film, adventures, werner, holt, german, abenteuer, werner, holt, 1965, east, german, drama, film, directed, joachim, kunert, abenteuer, werner, holtthe, premier, adventures, werner, holt, directed, byjoachim, kunertwritten, bydieter, . The Adventures of Werner Holt German Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt is a 1965 East German drama film directed by Joachim Kunert Die Abenteuer des Werner HoltThe premier of The Adventures of Werner Holt Directed byJoachim KunertWritten byDieter Noll Claus Kuchenmeister Joachim KunertProduced byHans Mahlich Martin SonnabendStarringKlaus Peter ThieleCinematographyRolf SohreEdited byChrista StrittMusic byGerhard WohlgemuthProductioncompanyDEFADistributed byProgress FilmRelease date5 February 1965 1965 02 05 Running time164 minutesCountryEast GermanyLanguageGerman Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksPlot EditWerner Holt a young Luftwaffenhelfer in an anti aircraft gun crew stationed on the eastern border of Germany in the last days of World War II is awaiting the attack of the Red Army with his friend and commander Gilbert Wolzow Holt recalls the last two years of his life his meeting with Wolzow their conscription his experience as an assistant in an anti aircraft battery He remembers how he began to lose faith in the war s aims after witnessing the brutal crushing of the Slovak National Uprising and having a sexual encounter with an SS officer s wife which left him disgusted After that he realized that his father s claims about millions of people being murdered in the concentration camps were true As the Soviets attack Wolzow orders his ill equipped soldiers to hold to the last man Holt flees only to hear that his friend was himself accused of treason by an SS blocking detachment He arrives in time to see Wolzow hanged Enraged Holt grabs a machine gun and mows down the executioners He then deserts Cast EditKlaus Peter Thiele Werner Holt Manfred Karge Gilbert Wolzow Arno Wyzniewski Sepp Gomulka Gunter Junghans Christian Vetter Peter Reusse Peter Wiese Dietlinde Greiff Marie Kruger Angelica Domrose Uta Barnim Maria Alexander Gertie Ziesche Monika Woytowicz Gundel Thiess Wolfgang Langhoff Professor Holt Wolf Kaiser General Wolzow Erika Pelikowsky Mrs Wolzow Martin Florchinger Attorney Gomulka Helga Goring Mrs Gomulka Ingeborg Ottmann Mrs Wiese Norbert Christian Knaack Kurt Steingraf director Maass Hans Joachim Hanisch Sergeant Gottesknecht Adolf Peter Hoffmann Captain Kutschera Herbert Korbs GeneralProduction EditThe script was based on Dieter Noll s best selling novel The Adventures of Werner Holt for which he received East Germany s National Prize in 1963 1 Reception EditThe film sold more than three million tickets in East Germany alone 2 and was well received in the Soviet Union 3 It was one of the relatively few DEFA pictures to be released in West Germany where it enjoyed considerable success as well 4 Director Joachim Kunert writer Claus Kuchenmeister and cinematographer Rolf Sohre all won the National Prize of East Germany 2nd Class on 6 October 1965 5 The film was also selected as the best film of the year by the readers of the magazine Junge Welt and its producers were honored with the Erich Weinert Medal Abroad The Adventures of Werner Holt received the Prize for the Best Anti Fascist Film and the Prize of the Soviet Peace Committee at the 4th Moscow International Film Festival 6 as well as an honorary diploma at the 1965 Edinburgh Film Festival In addition it was granted an honorary medal at the 1966 Carthage Film Festival 7 On 6 February 1965 the National Zeitung columnist Hartmut Albrect wrote that the picture contained extraordinary well made scenes that convey deeper messages than those immediately noticed Gunter Sobe from the Berliner Zeitung dubbed the picture remarkably authentic having a powerful effect Critic Ulrich Gregor praised Kunert s decision to split the plot into two storylines in order to deal with the chronological inconsistency of Noll s book 8 The German International Film Lexicon described the picture as one that causes shock and warns against misguided ideals 9 Sabine Hake cited The Adventures of Werner Holt as one of the most notable films that using a modernist style challenged the traditional East German anti Fascist narrative by introducing a more personal perspective to the theme 10 Anke Pinkert too viewed it as a picture that dealt with the issue in a more realistic manner than previous works 4 James Chapman wrote that the flashbacks and the stream of consciousness techniques employed by the director enabled Kunert to present a fully rounded protagonist 11 Daniela Berghan included the film among DEFA s Anti Fascist classics 12 Authors Antonin and Miera Liehm classified it as one of the army epics a genre that used the setting of the German military to convey strong criticism of the country s militaristic tradition 13 In 1996 The Adventures of Werner Holt was selected by a commission of historians and critics as one of the hundred most important German films ever made 14 References Edit Paul Cooke Marc Silberman Screening War Perspectives on German Suffering ISBN 978 1 57113 437 0 Page 76 Ralf Schenk Der Panzer rollte direkt auf uns zu Archived 2012 03 12 at the Wayback Machine Superillu 30 August 2006 Sovexportfilm Soviet Film 1970 Moscow 1970 ISSN 0201 8373 Page 11 a b Anke Pinkert Film and memory in East Germany Indiana University Press 2008 ISBN 0 253 21967 1 Page 146 DEFA chronicle of 1965 4th Moscow International Film Festival 1965 MIFF Archived from the original on 2013 01 16 Retrieved 2012 12 06 Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt Defa stiftung de Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt Fk thueringen de Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt Zweitausendsundeins de Sabine Hake German National Cinema Routledge 2002 ISBN 978 0 415 08901 2 Page 123 James Chapman War and Film Reaktion Books 2008 ISBN 978 1 86189 347 5 Page 79 Daniela Berghahn Hollywood behind the Wall the cinema of East Germany ISBN 978 0 7190 6172 1 Page 73 Miera Liehm Antonin J Liehm The Most Important Art Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945 ISBN 0 520 04128 3 Pages 269 270 Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt Archived 2011 10 01 at the Wayback Machine Progress film de External links EditThe Adventures of Werner Holt at IMDb Original poster on filmportal de Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Adventures of Werner Holt film amp oldid 1131624547, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
