Bernhard Wicki's 'The Bridge (1959)' was a film that I'd never heard of before. Aside from an enthusiastic blurb on the VHS case, I hardly knew what it was about nor whether or not it was any good, having snatched it blindly from the library shelf. What I ended up watching was one of the most outstanding WWII films I'd ever seen, a harrowing, uncompromising tale of the futility of war and the tragic loss of childhood life and innocence. 'The Bridge' {German title: 'Die Brücke'} was based on Manfred Gregor's novel, inspired by his own experiences as a child at war, and adapted by Michael Mansfeld, Karl-Wilhelm Vivier and director Bernhard Wicki. It almost certainly drew a lot of inspiration from Lewis Milestone's Academy Award-winning 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930),' with both films following the doomed fates of a group of young and idealistic German teenagers (though the latter, of course, is set during the First World War).
What impressed me most about 'The Bridge' is that it dedicated a lot of time towards the children's lives before being enlisted in the army. Though I did have a bit of trouble remembering which kid was which (my memory for names, especially foreign ones, is horrid), collectively, the audience really grows affectionate towards them. The quiet trivialities of their small-town existence (English classes, building boats, girls ) are contrasted strongly against the images of death and destruction that they will later witness. There was one particular scene that I thought was beyond all others. For some time, the seven boys have been working with their English teacher (Wolfgang Stumpf) to build a small boat. During the project, one child suddenly arrives, declaring ecstatically they they had all received their report-in orders from the military. As the children excitedly celebrate, we witness the look of pure devastation upon the teacher's face; he already knows that this is the last he'll see of his young and bright students.
The film is set in the closing months of World War Two, with Germany at its knees and waiting for defeat. Amid the boys' petty day-to-day difficulties, this doesn't seem to worry them at all, and they greet the approaching front with great anticipation. Following their first day in the army, the entire infantry force is ordered to march out and greet the forthcoming Allied army. It is an act of sheer desperation, and, in order to spare the newly-enlisted recruits, the seven boys are posted at a small concrete bridge just on the outskirts of their own town. This particular crossing is strategically insignificant, and the commanders plan to demolish it as soon as the Americans arrive, but the boys are not privy to this information. When, indeed, the Americans do reach the bridge in a trio of tanks, the seven young recruits launch a full offensive, a tragedy of misguided courage that results in the death of all but one.
Especially considering the year in which it was made, the battle sequences of 'The Bridge' are really quite graphic, and, if you think that Stanley Kubrick pulled no punches in 'Paths of Glory (1957),' you ain't seen nothing yet! One by one, the innocent sixteen-year-olds are cut down by the confused American soldiers. The young Germans put up an admirable fight considering the circumstances, but it's such a bitter waste of life that you can only feel disgust and anger that such a thing could be allowed to happen. In one particularly brutal scene, one of the inexperienced boys tries to fire a Panzerfaust (an anti-tank weapon), and the hapless elderly civilian behind him in struck in the face by the back-blast. The story ends without any sense of resolution, as the sole remaining recruit after have shot his own officer in the back to prevent the all-important bridge from being demolished retreats from the carnage, and the small insignificant structure diminishes into the mist.
What impressed me most about 'The Bridge' is that it dedicated a lot of time towards the children's lives before being enlisted in the army. Though I did have a bit of trouble remembering which kid was which (my memory for names, especially foreign ones, is horrid), collectively, the audience really grows affectionate towards them. The quiet trivialities of their small-town existence (English classes, building boats, girls ) are contrasted strongly against the images of death and destruction that they will later witness. There was one particular scene that I thought was beyond all others. For some time, the seven boys have been working with their English teacher (Wolfgang Stumpf) to build a small boat. During the project, one child suddenly arrives, declaring ecstatically they they had all received their report-in orders from the military. As the children excitedly celebrate, we witness the look of pure devastation upon the teacher's face; he already knows that this is the last he'll see of his young and bright students.
The film is set in the closing months of World War Two, with Germany at its knees and waiting for defeat. Amid the boys' petty day-to-day difficulties, this doesn't seem to worry them at all, and they greet the approaching front with great anticipation. Following their first day in the army, the entire infantry force is ordered to march out and greet the forthcoming Allied army. It is an act of sheer desperation, and, in order to spare the newly-enlisted recruits, the seven boys are posted at a small concrete bridge just on the outskirts of their own town. This particular crossing is strategically insignificant, and the commanders plan to demolish it as soon as the Americans arrive, but the boys are not privy to this information. When, indeed, the Americans do reach the bridge in a trio of tanks, the seven young recruits launch a full offensive, a tragedy of misguided courage that results in the death of all but one.
Especially considering the year in which it was made, the battle sequences of 'The Bridge' are really quite graphic, and, if you think that Stanley Kubrick pulled no punches in 'Paths of Glory (1957),' you ain't seen nothing yet! One by one, the innocent sixteen-year-olds are cut down by the confused American soldiers. The young Germans put up an admirable fight considering the circumstances, but it's such a bitter waste of life that you can only feel disgust and anger that such a thing could be allowed to happen. In one particularly brutal scene, one of the inexperienced boys tries to fire a Panzerfaust (an anti-tank weapon), and the hapless elderly civilian behind him in struck in the face by the back-blast. The story ends without any sense of resolution, as the sole remaining recruit after have shot his own officer in the back to prevent the all-important bridge from being demolished retreats from the carnage, and the small insignificant structure diminishes into the mist.