Bernhard Wicki builds a sense of inescapable tension as the seven boys’ eyes slowly open to the reality of their situation, and the spring sunshine turns to thick fog and darkness on the bridge of no escape.
Based on a 1958 novel by journalist and writer Gregor Dorfmeister, written under the pseudonym Manfred Gregor, The Bridge (Die Brücke) is a story of corrupted innocence, lies, and the vulnerability of youth as Germany fell to Allied forces in the spring of 1945.
Directed by Bernhard Wicki, The Bridge ‘Die Brücke’ is one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made as it explores the fall of the Third Reich and the conscription of young men and boys in the final days, weeks and months of a war already lost.
On a small bridge outside their German town, seven schoolmates wear second-hand uniforms and carry ageing, malfunctioning rifles, as they wait for allied troops to approach. Their mission is to protect the local bridge in and out of the village at any cost.
The boys were called up the day before, leaving their school lives to defend their town. However, on arrival at training, which can only be described as chaotic, they discover that the sergeant assigned to command them is already dead. Under the surface, the confidence and bravado they exude suddenly waver, with nervous smiles and uneasy banter replacing the excitement and honour they initially felt. Yet, these sixteen-year-old boys are more afraid of being labelled deserters than of standing their ground. They don’t yet know they haven’t got a chance against the oncoming allied forces.
The boys’ view of the war and the turning point now reached has been shaped by drip-fed propaganda throughout their childhood and early teens, their view of the world twisted by isolationism, lies and nationalism. They are just boys, but that is no protection in a country teetering on the edge of collapse.
Bernhard Wicki builds a sense of inescapable tension and fear as the boy’s eyes slowly open to the reality of their situation, and the spring sunshine turns to thick fog and darkness on the bridge of no escape.
As our seven scared boys attempt to guard a bridge of no importance, the Allied tanks roll in. The boys try to earn honour and respect amid the destruction, yet their belief in what they are fighting for is founded on lies. As the reality of their situation dawns, we watch their innocence and their young lives end in a hail of gunfire and cannon smoke, in the name of a war already lost weeks before. Their lives, futures, and dreams stripped away before our eyes. Dorfmeister, represented here by the character Albert Mutz (Fritz Wepper), was the only one of his friends to survive a similar situation that inspired his novel. He would later say, “We were just kids, and the Nazis used us as cannon fodder.”
Bernhard Wicki’s astonishing, emotional and powerful antiwar film captures the reality of this statement. The Bridge was the first major anti-war film made in Germany after World War II, and it went on to earn an Oscar nomination. Yet its true legacy was its ability to open a public conversation about the boys and young men who were brutally forced into a war Germany had already lost. However, despite its power, The Bridge (Die Brücke) remains a film that many people have never seen, due to its limited availability on digital, DVD, and Blu-ray.
The Bridge ‘Die Brücke’ (1959) is available on a limited edition ‘Region A’ Criterion Blu-ray and DVD.
Follow Us