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The Bridge (Die Brücke) Bernhard Wicki

The Bridge is one of the most-powerful antiwar films ever made. Based on an autobiographical novel by Manfred Gregor, it depicts seven Bavarian schoolboys who face death defending an insignificant bridge against an American attack in the last days of World War 2. The film first vividly pictures the home lives and personal problems of the boys. Then we see the boys joyfully discover they are being drafted into the Wehrmacht, after which they are assigned to defend a bridge at the edge of their town. Unknown to them, a colonel has given them this assignment because the bridge is strategically useless, planning to withdraw them before the Germans blow it up. But due to a mishap the boys are not withdrawn, and all but one die defending it. This film did not come easily to the screen. Many publishers rejected Manfred Gregor's book, several directors rejected the script, and the young actors in the film had little or no experience. Yet in the end The Bridge succeeded spectacularly. The director, Bernhard Wicki, was able to elicit harrowing performances from his cast, and the film received accolades from all over the World, including an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award in America. Wicki went on to new directing assignments, including the German sequence in The Longest Day, and several of the young actors found success in German theater and television. Directed by Bernhard Wicki; music by Hans-Martin Majewski; featuring Volker Bohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz, and Cordula Trantow.

West Germany, 1959, B&W, 102 minutes, German dialogue, English subtitles.

Video Cassette available in NTSC

Only available on DVD. Click here to order.

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