Product Details

• Actors: Erich von Manstein
• Directors: Harriet Eder, Thomas Kufus
• Writers: Harriet Eder, Thomas Kufus
• Producers: Carol Sennett
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: German
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kino Video
• DVD Release Date: November 28, 2000
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000541TO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #127,474 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #11 in

  Movies & TV > Art House & International > By Genre > Documentary

• For more information about "Mein Krieg - My Private War" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Amateur movies shot with small handheld cameras by six German infantrymen on the Eastern Front during World War II form the core of this documentary. The men who took the movies appear on camera as old men to provide narration (in German, with subtitles), and they provide a perspective not often heard. As might be expected, they distance themselves from atrocities, and as they were foot soldiers in the Wehrmacht, their denials of involvement are probably true. One of the men still owns the camera he carried in the war, and he demonstrates how its small size made it perfect for impromptu filming in the field. Clips of smiling troops on the move is accompanied by an old man talking about how happy they were to be going to an unknown destination, likening it to "the joy one feels when on a journey." It turns out the gleeful trip he recalls was actually the beginning of the invasion of Poland and thus the beginning of the war in Europe. Later footage shows combat conditions in Russia, and the grisly aftermath of vicious combat. The rarity of the film footage, some of which was shot in color, makes this documentary worth watching. But the recollections of the amateur cameramen also provide an unusual insight into the German war machine, such as when one of the old veterans mentions how he eventually realized, "This was no defensive war forced upon us, it was an idiotic war of aggression." --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very moving collection of home videos of WWII, August 4, 2000

By	Ruth Henriquez Lyon (Duluth, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mein Krieg [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mein Kreig, January 29, 2000

By	David R. McNamara (Cooperstown, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mein Krieg [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, April 17, 2001

By	Seth M. Gunar (Mahwah, NJ) - See all my reviews

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.