Stalingrad DVD 1992 / Directed by Joseph Vilsmaier / Starring: Dominique Horwitz, Thomas Kretschmann, Jochen Nickel

UPC 5017239190254

REGION 2 PAL DVD  

MADE IN GERMANY

AUDIO: English 2.0

SUBTITLES: -

RUN TIME: 132 minutes

English Summary:

This German battlefield drama, released on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the climactic 1943 defeat of the Nazi forces at Stalingrad in Russia, does not paint a pretty picture either of war itself or of the Germans fighting in that war. Out of hundreds of thousands of previously victorious German soldiers who took part in this most crucial battle of WWII, a mere six thousand ruined men survived. Today, the word "Stalingrad" is used by Germans to signify any particularly ruinous reversal or defeat. In the story, the lives of several German soldiers are followed as they are transformed from arrogant and victorious killers into demoralized cowards who will do anything at all in order to survive, usually without success. Due to a political climate of resurgent sympathy for the fascists at the time this film was made, is was particularly important to the filmmakers to show the soldiers as lacking any shred of military dignity or real courage. Thus, though this big budget, well-made film did well in Germany, its lack of any truly sympathetic characters made it less popular elsewhere.

Cast:

• Dominique Horwitz as Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser
• Thomas Kretschmann as Leutnant Hans von Witzland
• Jochen Nickel as Unteroffizier Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder
• Sebastian Rudolph as GeGe Müller (nicknamed GeGe to distinguish him from other Müllers)
• Dana Vávrová as Irina
• Martin Benrath as General Hentz (based on Generaloberst Walter Heitz)
• Sylvester Groth as Otto
• Karel Heřmánek as Hauptmann Hermann Musk
• Heinz Emigholz as Edgar Emigholz
• Ferdinand Schuster as Double Edgar
• Oliver Broumis as HGM (Müller)
• Dieter Okras as Hauptmann Haller
• Zdenek Vencl as Wölk
• Mark Kuhn as Feldwebel Pflüger
• Thorsten Bolloff as Feldmann
• Alexander Wachholz as Pfarrer Renner
• J. Alfred Mehnert as Lupo
• Ulrike Arnold as Viola
• Christian Knoepfle as Dieter
• Flip Cap as Ludwig
• Jaroslav Tomsa as Opa Erwin (Grandpa Erwin)
• Pavel Mang as Kolja
• Otto Sevcík as Major Kock (as Oto Sevcik)
• Jophi Ries as Schröder