Dresden
by Roland Suso Richter
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Benjamin Sadler, Felicitas Woll, Heiner Lauterbach, John Light, Katharina MaineckeDirector: Roland Suso Richter
Brand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); German (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Koch Vision
Movie Reviews of Dresden
Movie Review: Unfortunately some historical problems
Summary: 3 Stars
I thought that this would be an interesting film. I have read two books about the Hamburg firestorm in 1943 and one book on the Dresden firestorm. I have also read several books about the night battle between RAF Bomber Command and the German Nachtjaeger (night fighters). The initial night raid at the beginning of the film is totally unrealistic. The RAF deployed in a bomber stream where individual bombers were guided initially by radio or radar beacons and then dropped their bombs via flares (the Germans called the flares Christmas trees because of the shape and color) dropped by pathfinders who would initially mark the target. The bombers got to the target individually, they could not fly in formation because of the darkness and the lack of many of the navigation devices that are common today. Everything that I have read has told me that it was a lonely dark cold ride for the crew of the bomber. They could not see any other planes from their squadron and they had to be on their toes for German night fighters. In the movie the British bombers are in a formation that would be more suitable for USAAF daylight bombing, close to each other where they could wave to other crews. In real life if this formation had been attempted there would have been multiple mid air collisions between the bombers. When the main British character's plane is later attacked it is by a formation of single engine day fighters (ME-109s). ME-109s were used against Bomber Command. However, they flew singly, high above an attacked city and attacked bombers from above when the bombers stood out against the light background of the burning city. The German ME-109 pilots had no radar and generally were lucky to get back to their air field let along shoot down a bomber. So there was no way that the main character's plane would be attacked by a formation of day fighters unless the bomber was flying during the day. Normally, German night fighters which had short range airborne radar would be guided by ground based radar operators into the bomber stream of a raid and attack bombers according to their onboard radar or visual means. The fighters would attack from behind and below and had special 20mm cannon that were slanted to fire up into the belly of the bomber. Usually, the bomber crew had no clue until they were actually under attack. Sometimes the tail gunner (who had the best view) would spot the stalking fighter, warn the pilot and engage the fighter. But once again it was a one against one kind of battle, not what was shown in this movie.
The middle of the movie after the main character landed and was wounded was slow and again unbelievable with the relationship with the nurse hard to understand let alone believe; and how an apparently able bodied man could not be spotted and identified by the German MPs. The whole hiding in the hospital is pretty far fetched.
The actual bombing of Dresden and the resulting firestorm seemed to have been done well based on the eye witness accounts that I had read in several books.
I know that I am being picky concerning the British bombers and German fighters but all of this is well documented and shows sloppy research by the movie makers.
Summary of Dresden
January, 1945. In the uncertain days leading up to the Allied bombings of Dresden, Anna (Felicitas Woll) discovers Robert Newman (John Light), an injured British pilot, hiding in a hospital cellar. Torn between loyalty and desire, the young nurse risks everything to help him recover. As Anna struggles to keep his true identity a secret and Robert battles to survive behind enemy lines, a catastrophic fate descends upon the city.DVD Extras:
Making-of Featurette, Archival Military Footage of the Dresden bombings
A love story set amidst the chaos and horror of World War II, Dresden tells the tale of a beautiful young German nurse who falls in love with an injured British pilot. Anna (Felicitas Woll) is engaged to a wealthy doctor, but she wants more than the bland certainty he can offer her. While on her rounds at the hospital, she discovers Robert (John Light), who is in hiding. Anna knows little about him and is initially unaware that he is a British soldier, and therefore her enemy. What starts as a quiet, private romance escalates into an affair that the couple has a difficult time containing. Woll and Light make beautiful leads, but it's the supporting characters who stand out. Dr. Carl Mauth (Heiner Lauterbach), Anna's father, is a complicated and compelling man who will resort to stealing morphine if his patients are in need. Watching his emotive face, viewers understand his intent without having to hear him speak. Dresden's filmmakers do a formidable job of presenting both the Brits and the Germans as flawed people who aren't sure what is right and wrong. Set in January, 1945, prior to the Allied bombings of Dresden, the German production team does a fine job of meshing soap opera type melodrama with feverish action. There are some scenes that are horrific and gruesome to watch. But more often than not, they succinctly set the tone for the violence that accompanies war. Though the three-hour miniseries (which offers both English and German with English subtitles) has been favorably compared with the epic love story portrayed in Titanic, it also shares some of the sweet aspects of Summer of My German Soldier, a 1978 made-for-TV movie that depicts the unlikely friendship between a young Jewish girl and a German POW. As with war, there sometimes is no explanation for love. It just happens. --Jae-Ha Kim
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