The film tells the story of World War II from a German perspective. On the eve of the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, four Germans and a Jew celebrate their departure at home. They meet at Christmas to be their day of reunion, but the group of young people are not yet. Knowing that the next life will develop in an uncontrollable direction is not only the story of these five friends, but also the fate of tens of thousands of Germans. William: As a veteran, he understands the cruelty of war. He knows what to do and what not to do. Unlike the SS, as a pure soldier, he obeys orders while still retaining humanity. , he will try his best to rescue a Jew, and he will also try to save the Soviet Union's political commissar. William is also a responsible man. He worked hard to protect his younger brother Fried in the army, and tried his best not to give nurse Charlotte hope that he loved her deeply. Like most German soldiers, William was in the army. In the end, he will question the intention of the war and watch the people around him die one by one for the so-called battle. As a commander, he has completely turned on the anti-war sentiment. However, in that era, individuals are no longer personal. Fred: It was impressive when he said that at first. War exposes the ugliness of a person. Fred knows that war is not a war of a person, but an ideological war. Anti-war sentiment makes He disobeyed the command and deliberately smoked a cigarette to usher in the Soviet artillery fire. Even if he was severely beaten, he poured cold water on everyone when everyone was still planning to go back for Christmas. When he walked over step by step, the unchangeable war finally made him numb, and he began to accept everything because he understood that he was the executor of this state machine. He would propose to let the Soviet peasants step on the mines, and he would resolutely give the enemy a shot when the recruits were soft-handed. Before the countdown to the shooting was over, he would kill the escaped child and pull down the noose with a blank expression. , these are the actions of the younger brother Fred. He did a lot of things that went against his heart, but so what? When Fred would come home, facing the indifference of his father and the ridicule of the 10-year-old German children, he chose to return to the battlefield again. At this moment, there was no escape in Fred's heart. He knew this War is unavoidable for everyone, from the beginning of the fight for the motherland to the last fight for the comrades-in-arms. In fact, Fred is still not completely reduced to a machine. He will choose to kill his superior to save Victor, and finally choose to end his side to save his comrades. boss, only Only if he died can others survive. However, anyone who knows history knows how many of those who surrendered to the Soviet Union had their lives left in the Suberian Plain forever. Charlotte: A simple little girl who responded to the call of the country to join the army. At first, she firmly instilled the consciousness of the head of state in her heart. When she had her first operation, she realized how difficult the battlefield was. She secretly reported it. The Jewish nurse Lilia came over to let her escape. Maybe she was also conflicted at the moment. Which is more important, country or friendship? After learning that William After her "death", her heart collapsed instantly and she went to bed with a doctor. At this moment, it was the biggest disaster for her. Charlotte represents a part of German women. She came to the army with supreme vision. She wanted to use her strength but found that the cruelty of war was unimaginable. Victor/Greta: A Germanic, a Jew, the crystal night did not make this Jew Greta feel that disaster was coming, but felt that this was our war (Germany), but the German policy of persecuting Jews made him increasingly difficult , his girlfriend Victor chose to commit adultery with a German SS soldier in order to get Greta's passport to the United States, but the woman's idea was so simple, including the end of the show, she said to the soldier The big star Greta herself should be waiting for her. However, in the face of war, it is useless to recognize who you are. She naively thought that pregnancy was her talisman, but for a murderous SS, it was just a matter of one punch. While waiting for her death, she should have understood how helpless she was in the face of war, like a lamb in a slaughterhouse. Victor, as a Jew, was ostracized in Germany, as well as in Poland, what a terrible thing. The enemy of the enemy is still the enemy. The moment Victor pulled down the train door, he had decided not to hide his Jewish identity. The film director told the war through a number of clues. When the subtitles suggested that the German army was tens of kilometers away from Moscow at first, it was hundreds of kilometers away, and then it was getting closer and closer to Berlin, forming a huge contrast. Greta's singing appears many times in the film, and each time the song sounds, it represents a different meaning. The beginning and the end of the film form a contextual response. When the war begins and ends, the people are not those people. . The film is full of details, the rampage of the SS, the execution of German soldiers who were sentenced to death to perform retreat and clean-up tasks, the rape of prisoners of war by Soviet soldiers and the killing of prisoners (you can understand that the Soviet Union’s behavior in World War II was no less than Germany’s), go to The Jews of Auschwitz, Poland's hatred of Jews, and Poland were not treated friendly between the Soviet Union and Germany, and the SS officer Martin was still not tried despite his great crimes (politics have no justice, only chips). In this film, the cruelty of war, the transformation of human nature, and the helplessness of the invaded peasants are vividly displayed, but at the same time, the warmth that is rare in war is also reflected everywhere. For example, the old Soviet couple calmly asked William Do you need a drink? and when the Polish captain gave him a gun after learning that Victor was Jewish, and let him go, when Charlotte was raped Lilia helped her out. It can be said that this is a very meaningful anti-war film. He is a generation of Germans thinking about their parents. What can we do in the face of the past? Do not forget history, reflect on history, and take history as a mirror. Our ancestors have explained this philosophical thought clearly. In war, all losers.
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