Customer Reviews

Mein Krieg [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a documentary film comprising home videos shot by six German soldiers at the Russian front during World War II, combined with their present day reflections on the war and the experience of shooting the war. There is a lot of rather disjointed footage from the past, which, together with the current interviews with the soldiers, is skillfully edited into a very unified piece.

For me, what is most compelling about this film is not the war footage itself, but rather the soldiers talking about their footage as we watch it. Interspersed with scenes of the war are close-ups of these men as they continue speaking of their experience.....the expressions on their faces, which often belie their words, give an extremely accurate account on the effects of war on its survivors--effects which last a lifetime.

Thus, this is not just documentary of interest to World War II buffs. This film should interest anyone interested in the effects of war on people, and by extension, society.

I was deeply impressed with the directors' ability to connect images of film shot by German soldiers in the 1941 Russian campaign with their present-day recollections fifty years after the war. Moving back and forth between vintage footage (some of it in beautiful, vintage color) and interviews, the movie uniquely illuminates the war with the veterans' understanding and interpretation of century-old events. Time changes many young men's views of war, and most of the interviewed veterans seemed to come to sobering and disturbing conclusions of the purpose of the Russian campaign and their participation in the Nazi military effort. Seeing images of Germany and Russia in color also has a profound effect as we are so used to seeing only black and white images of that period that it was almost like viewing the past through some magical history-lens. Anyone with interest in modern European history or World War II will find this film magical, illuminating and haunting. The film does include footage of combat and discussion of atrocities and is probably not appropriate for children.

First, a remark about the KINO DVD: It only contains the documentary, nothing else, picture quality is up to vhs standard only (of course I speak about the newer segments, shot in 1990), and worst of all, the english subtitles in this all-german film can not be switched off (the dvd was taken from an already subtitled print), which is very annoying as one would like to see the old images without big white letters written over them.
But then, what choice do you have?? This is the only version of this documentary available and so I have to live with it.

The documentary contains home-made films from 6 german soldiers on the eastern front and their recollections and comments 45 years later, sometimes incredible high-quality color shots, sometimes gruesome field hospital scenes, naked ukrainian women, heaps of corpses, burnt out panzers, hanged jews, shot partisans and ruins, ruins, ruins.

To me, these were the things which sticked in my mind, and I will surely not forget: The old china-trader, who comes across as the most distinguished and sympathetic of the veterans, admitting shooting partisans and having nightmares from it for 45 years each night. The Cynical one who states that the only thing he regrets was that he had not the opportunity to film the western theatre of war. And the reeducated one, giving hollow statements about how wrong it all was, but making (as the only one) his living by selling WWII photos in an agency. There are a lot of gruesome, funny, interesting things to see, but the most memorable one were the faces of the already beaten soldiers, 10 minutes befor the battle of Kiev, knowing they will die.

This documentary is unbelievably valuable, presenting views and thoughts beyond any censorship or propaganda, so one has to own it as you're never be able to see things like this again, shame about the presentation on DVD which could have been so much better.

I've read many books about WWII. This movie did something very rare, it added a new perspective to my understanding of the war. There are no cliches, and there is much you have never seen before. Don't get me wrong when I say this, but I get the feeling that we have turned a deaf ear to anything the Germans have to say about their experience in the war. It is as if this is part of the retribution for the suffering the war caused. We seem to be trying to write their perspective out of the history books out of a sense that their view of things has no legitimacy or out of a fear that it will happen again. Germans are also reluctant to tell their side, I guess out of a sense of guilt. This is all wrong. We owe it to prosperity to get every side so that when people read about this era in the future, they will have a full understanding of what happened. I think this movie goes a long way in that direction.

I was a bit disappointed by this DVD, but it is still worth having. It provides some very penetrating insight onto bits of everyday life for the German landser on the Eastern front -- the footage is mostly of barracks, hospitals, rear-areas, roads, and only rarely the front -- but its short length (90 minutes) and the unavoidable messiness brought about by editing the amateur footage of six different men into one narrative gave it a ragged, uneven feel. It also seemed like the documentarians' questions were fairly loaded, as if they were trying to force the ex-landsers into admitting guilt for their participation in the war (which it was obvious only one or two of them really felt) rather than simply letting their words speak for themselves. The air of judgementalism, whether or not it is justified, has no place in a neutral format such as this. In any case, there are many fine moments in the footage. The striking (color) image of the ragged swastika flag flying over the barracks and the Nazi-style monuments is jarring because it looks so recent. One rarely gets such a sense of connection the historical past with B&W film. Similarly the color shots of the soldiers make them look alive and real in a way B&W film does not. One gets a sense that indeed, all of this did really happen. Seeing bombed-out ruins of Polish and Russian cities in black-and-white is one thing, but in color it is striking. There was not as much color as I had hoped, but the other scenes of the AA gun shooting down the Russian plane, the night tank scrap, the retreat in the mud sea and the unexpected arrival of Field Marshal von Manstein for dinner in the field are all very interesting, as is much of the narrative. To see men talking about the experiences they filmed themselves, fifty years later, is often moving. I just wish there was more of it.

This 90-minute documentary is neat because you get to hear from the six German soldiers why they filmed this or that scene, their thoughts on the progress of the war, etc. Completely unfiltered, which is nice. Lots of down-time footage, e.g. soldiers smoking, etc. Of note: footage of a Russian plane going down, followed immediately by footage of pilot's burnt corpse. Recommended for WWII buffs only.

This video is home movies that 5-6 individual German Soldiers took on the Eastern Front from 1941 - 45. The movie is in German, with English subtitles. I found it to be extremely interesting. Well worth the money.

This DVD is not for people with a closed mind, it is an example of journalism not a war story. It is the simple story of German cameramen in WWII, what they saw, what happened them and how they felt. Is is refreshing to see footage of WWII that isn't written from an action or moral stance. It is a fly on the fall that runs from the start of the war when these men moved forward with their nations troops right up to the time that they arrived home after defeat and what awaited when they got "home". There are no big battle sceens and their certainlt is no happy ending. Buy it and use it as educational material.

Also recommemded is Das Boat.
God bless the memory of all people killed in war.

This is not the world war of the history books. This is the life of a soldier. A German Soldier. (Actually several individual soldiers.) All politics aside, what it gets right down to is that soldiers do not fight for a cause. They fight to survive and to make sure their comrades survive. This is World War II through the eyes of a Wehrmacht soldier. The Wehrmacht were regular German Army. They were not necessarily Nazis. It is important to understand that the SS and The SA (Storm troopers) were Hitler's private army or the army of the Nazi party. The Wehrmacht on the other hand, were regular German army. Watching their handheld films and listening to their narratives will tear down the concepts of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, or us vs. them, and will leave open and naked, the human condition.

I can't say I was disappointed after viewing this movie composed of home videos shot during Germany's invasion of Russia. There's some really great footage in this movie. The color footage is amazing, and gives you another perspective of World War II. There's also some black and white, but whether color film or not, there's some interesting footage shot. I learned a lot from viewing this.