Before the Fall
by Dennis Gansel
Our Price: $87.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $43.71 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Devid Striesow, Jonas Jägermeyr, Leon A. Kersten, Max Riemelt, Tom SchillingDirector: Dennis Gansel
Brand: Wolfe
Cinematographer: Torsten Breuer
Writer: Dennis Gansel
Editor: Jochen Retter
Producer: Harald Kügler
Producer: Molly von Fürstenberg
Producer: Viola Jäger
Writer: Maggie Peren
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Picture This
Movie Reviews of Before the Fall
Movie Review: The Fuhrer's Fools
Summary: 5 Stars
The German title of this film is "Napola". Napola's were "National Political Institutes of Education", or Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten. They were community education sites that appeared when the National Socialists came into power in 1933. (Not 1942 as another review indicates.) They had very strict entrance exams. The blind and deaf need not apply, and racial purity was of prime concern. Indeed, when Friedrich (Max Riemelt) enrolled, measurements of his head were taken, his eyes were "sized", and his hair was color coded. When finished, he was declared "Nordic Class One B". One glance at Friedrich, and the first word that would pop into most people's mind, especially when watching a German film, is "Aryan".
He had received attention while boxing, and his prowess gains him an invitation to the "community" Napola, even though it is unusual for students his age to be accepted. I'm guessing that he is about seventeen; I don't recall the film specifically giving an age. His father strictly forbids him, as he does not want to be associated with the Nazi's. He wants Friedrich to become an apprentice and work in the factories. But Friedrich has grander plans for himself. Departing silently in the middle of the night, he leaves two notes behind for his parents. To his mother, he is apologetic. To his father, he tells him that he forged his father's signature, and that if his father tries to take him out of the school he will tell the Gestapo what his father said about the Napola's. His father doesn't take this well, and unleashes his anger on Friedrich's bicycle.
Arriving at the Napola, Friedrich is awed by its physical beauty - the school is housed in a gorgeous castle - and by how smart and purposeful he looks in his uniform. In the opening day speech, the headmaster states that everyone here is equal, regardless of where they came from. Farmer's son, whatever, it doesn't matter. He also says that when final victory is achieved, Germany will need Governors - not only for herself and Austria, but also for Washington, London, Moscow, and Cape Town. It's clear that they are grooming these boys not only to be soldiers, but also to be good little Nazi's. Friedrich's genuine smile and excitement is difficult to miss, and on such an innocent face it's difficult to see when looking back with the benefit of hindsight. One can't help but wonder how many students, like him, perfectly normal, became the Fuhrer's fools.
Instruction at the Napola is rigorous, both physically and academically, although when discussing evolution they don't so much discuss the theory of evolution as it pertains to science, but how it applies to Hitler's beliefs: the culling of the weak. Physically, they go through many of the same drills that we see our own Marines go through during training camp.
Friedrich meets a smaller boy, Albrecht (Tom Schilling), whom he immediately befriends. Throughout the film, Albrecht serves not only as Friedrich's conscience, but also as the film's moral center. Albrecht's father, Heinrich, is the Governor, and is firmly in Hitler's corner. Albrecht is his father's antithesis. Albrecht is an aesthete - and we are told at a memorial service for someone who committed suicide, but is hailed instead as a hero, that there is no room for aesthetes in Hitler's army - indeed, Friedrich is blunt force. We see the differences between Albrecht and Friedrich when Albrecht invites Friedrich to come home with him for his father's birthday. Friedrich impresses Heinrich as he has heard much about his boxing. In, perhaps, drunken stupidity, the Governor has the two boys box down in the cellar. Friedrich has no desire to hit his friend, but Albrecht must impress his father and mounts a rather ineffective offensive. When one or two of his punches land, Friedrich puts him down with two punches. Heinrich and his friends are proud of Friedrich and ignore Albrecht.
The entrance of Heinrich serves as the introduction of the harsh realities of Nazism and Hitler's regime. The school itself has so far been but a tool for Hitler, and the children, remote and removed, know only their studies, themselves, and their training. One night a group of Russian prisoner's escapes into the woods surrounding this Napola, and Heinrich comes to them asking for help. The prisoners, he says, are "armed and dangerous" (so to speak), and sends the students into the woods after them, for the students know the woods better than anyone.
In the woods, the boys become men, in an initiation most of us will never see; we can be thankful for that.
"Before the Fall" works very well in everything that it does. The boxing scenes are good and the strong friendship between Albrecht and Friedrich is believable. They are very different people. Albrecht comes from privilege, and doesn't necessarily want it, and Friedrich looks at the Napola as something that can give him access to privilege that his poor family could not. They are drawn together, perhaps because Friedrich senses that he has something to learn from Albrecht.
Both Schilling and Riemelt put in excellent performances. It would be easy to portray Albrecht as simply weak, but Schilling makes us believe that Albrecht is a young man with strong convictions. Riemelt is helped with his Aryan good looks, but he proves to be a fine actor as well. In an emotional scene between the two friends, it's difficult to see that either are acting - although I would give the edge in performance to Schilling. His eyes resonated with intellect and emotion.
Summary of Before the Fall
Berlin 1942. Friedrich is a 16 year old who dreams of doing something with his life. His big chance comes when hes discovered at a boxing match by a young man who teaches at an elite nazi national political school or napola. The young man becomes his mentor & guides him in the strictly run school. Studio: Wolfe Video Release Date: 06/13/2006 Starring: Max Riemelt Jonas Jagermeyr Run time: 110 minutesSimilar DVD Movies
Playing for TimePBS; Release date: 2010-09-07; DVD
Best price: $17.48
Price in other shops:
The OgreRelease date: 2000-04-05; DVD
Best price: $38.50
The Only WayVideo Communications Inc.; Release date: 2010-07-27; DVD
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Mysterious Skin (Deluxe Unrated Director's Edition)Release date: 2006-03-20; DVD
Best price: $14.76
Price in other shops:
EichmannE1E; Release date: 2011-01-18; DVD
Best price: $11.86
Price in other shops:
ConspiracyHBO Home Video; Release date: 2002-03-26; DVD
Best price: $4.57
Price in other shops:
Summer StormGPI; Release date: 2006-09-05; DVD
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
Sophie Scholl - The Final DaysZeitgeist Films; Release date: 2006-11-14; DVD
Best price: $16.23
Price in other shops:
![Downfall [DVD] Image](/images/Downfall-DVD-B0009RCPUC-X.jpg)
Downfall [DVD]GANZ,BRUNO; Release date: 2005-08-02; DVD
Best price: $6.82
Price in other shops:
Europa EuropaHOFSCHNEIDER,MARCO; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops: