The Adventures of Werner Holt (1965)

Too much of everything

Sick Product of a Sick System

hyped garbage

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

"Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt" or "The Adventures of Werner Holt" is an East German German-language film from 1965, so it had its 50th anniversary last year. It is among the more known films from the GDR these days and the director as well as one of the writers who adapted the Dieter Noll novel is Joachim Kunert (still alive at almost 90). Most GDR films are in black-and-white and this one here is no exception. However, it is an exception in terms of the duration as this one runs for no less than 2 hours and 45 minutes. Extremely long. Unfortunately, I must say that I was not too impressed here. There were some good moments, but overall the script was not good enough to keep me interested in the title character and his actions and life. I also must say that the late lead actor Klaus-Peter Thiele may not have been the best casting decision. I found him fairly bland for the most part and his co-lead Manfred Karge (still alive) was somehow more memorable over all. Then again, he also had the baitier scenes and moments I guess. This is the story of two friends during the days of World War II. They (have to) join the army, but take very different paths in the next months. This also has a lot to do with how they perceive the Fuehrer and his claim to power and of course by other factors that make an impact on them individually. I already wrote in the title that this film may have worked better at 90 minutes max. I definitely would have preferred a more essential version of this story about Werner. I guess the director decided to keep it that long because he did not want to cut out too much from the book, but I believe this may not have been the right decision. Thumbd.won from me. Not recommended.

The Adventures of Werner Holt will probably not stand out much here in the West, due to its being written by East German author Dieter Noll, and film in East Germany by Director Joachim Kunert. It was one of the relatively few DEFA pictures to be released in West Germany, where it enjoyed considerable success. So, it's one movie worth checking out despite it not being well-known. The plot revolves around Werner Holt, (Klaus-Peter Thiele) a young German soldier who becomes disillusioned with the Nazis during the last days of World War II. Klaus gives a great performance, with and without saying a word. The actor looks a bit like young Jake Gyllenhaal. He looks so close to Jake, that you might mistake him for starting in World War II. His facial, and the use of his hands tell us the audiences, his emotional stage. The way, he stares at people and things can make you think or question everything you know about patriotism. The movie has this All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) feel to it. Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war, while his friend Gilbert Wolzow (Manfred Karge) begins to be more vicious. A powerful political and artistic masterpiece. The movie goes from a series of flashbacks telling Werner's coming to age story, from his high school days, to fighting nearly impossibles battles and finding romantic in the women he meet. I like the flashbacks, but it's seems badly edit in the film. I felt like it edited way too soon, as if missing parts. A good example, Gilbert and Werner were pick for a near-death winter battle mission to stop Russian tanks in their tracks, after two of his friends flees mid-battle. The scene cuts to spring time in another area and time. Wait a minute, how did they survive the attack? The movie does this, it cuts half way through the flashback, and puts us back in present day multiplies times without explaining how did they get to point A to point B. It seems like there were a lot of delete scenes taken out of the film. In some ways, it get confusing as hell with how many flashbacks there were. You don't know if you're watching a flashback or present day. The movie does have great symbolism. I like the dancing scene with the SS wife. Great use of shadows and reflections. It makes it look like there were a lot of people there when there wasn't. Still, the Hawaiian Jazz like type music was a bit annoying, and seem out of place. I do like the scene, where the piano is being play in the background, only to stop when one of Werner's friends died in the mud. It's makes it more interesting when you know what his friend was trying to do with his life. The language is a bit strong, was a bit surprised by it, seeing how this was a early 1960's film. The action scenes were great to watch. The title is kinda misleading, I wouldn't call it 'Adventures'. When you think of adventure, you think of exotic, fun, and heroic. In the film, you get more scary, depressing, and no heroes, just people trying to survive a war, while trying to keep their set morals alive. The saw-mill was haunting scene, as you don't see what happen in the room, but your mind knows that something bad happen there. The movie is a bit different than the book, as Holt and his company fight against Russians and not against Americans like in the book due to the ongoing Cold War at the time. The movie might be a bit historic wrong, as Holt and his friends have the uniforms of SS, although they just standard Wehrmacht soldiers. The ending is a open question that makes you wonder if Werner ever did survive the war or didn't. I would say give it a watch. The movie was overall, was worth watching as I learn great insight how life was in Nazi Germany.

For how long can concepts of honour and obligation withstand the onslaught of reality? Both were rebels and born to a certain privilege: Werner Holt the son of an esteemed IG Farben chemist and Gilbert Wolzow the scion of a military family; his father a colonel killed on the Eastern Front and his uncle a General. Werner, the eager but apolitical patriot. Gilbert the blinkered National Socialist.Told in a series of flashbacks near war's end, as a motley group of Panzertruppen, HJ and Volkssturm attempt to forestall the Russian advance, this is a remarkable film. Reminiscent at once of "The Bridge" in its uncompromising depiction of futility, director Joachim Kunert paints a broader though no less bleak canvas of the final days of the Reich: marauding SS units meting out summary justice to civilian and military alike. The questioning of vows of fidelity to Fuhrer and Fatherland in the face of insurmountable odds. Was it all a lie? Kids, you've no idea how we've been swindled.Despite the bonds of friendship, forged through High School and HJ service, Werner must ultimately question his friend's blind acceptance of the dead-end to which National Socialism has led them. And in so doing he makes a fateful choice, one with apocalyptic consequences.The seeds of doubt take root in a critical scene when Werner makes contact with his father. A brilliant chemist he may have been, but his refusal to take part in the production of certain "extermination" chemicals has led to him being labeled "politically unreliable." Demotion, family separation and divorce soon followed.Under the emblem that you wear on your arm, in Germany's name, the Nazis have unleashed the most barbaric war in history. And they're losing it.Then ultimately there is the saw-mill.Why are they all against us? They'll do the same things to us if we don't win. That's why we must fight to the end.One makes a choice. The other has the choice made for him. The house of cards falls, but in the cruelest of ways. The final scenes are breathtaking in both their brutality and their poignancy.An uncompromising movie, every one of its 164 minutes makes for riveting, if unnerving viewing, and this is aided by the genius of cinematographer Rolf Sohre. The eccentric noir angles and full-screen close-ups typify his style and they can be seen to further great advantage in another of Kunert's classic DEFA films, "Das Zweite Gleis" (The Second Track).

SPOILER FREEVery intriguing movie with superb acting (!) that shows the life and mindset of young Germans during WW2, how they were moulded into becoming killers without second thoughts and how they were eventually used up in war. Definitely worth watching, especially if so far you have been exposed only to Hollywood's interpretation of the second world war and the nazis.Unfortunately there is one HUGE propaganda-insertion though, which the DEFA included: At 54 minutes into the movie, the young men (or rather, boys) discuss Nazi racial-theory, where eventually one states that "Slavs are basically Aryans" (without anyone dissenting it) "Selbst wenn die Slawen nicht so hochwertig sind wie die Nordische Rasse, so sind sie doch immer noch Arier". This is total nonsense of course. The Slavs were considered sub-human by the Nazis, worth not very much more than Jews themselves. This propaganda-insertion is really bad in TWO ways because it a) twists around the truth 180 degrees in order to make their Big Brother from Russia look better AND b) because it looks like they ACCEPT the nazi-racial theory; why else would they try to make the Slavs look better? The Nazi racial theory IS COMPLETE NONSENSE of course since there are no human races. This one sentence should be cut out when showing "Werner Holt" today, as it gives the whole movie a cheap taste: What else could be made up? And that shouldn't be, since everything else in it seems very accurately depicted. One note concerning the previous comment by Mrdat Kundu: Their black uniforms are quite correct. Those are Panzer-uniforms. Maybe you should have done some research before claiming such nonsense. Besides, they never were "standard Wehrmacht". First they were members of the HJ (Hitler Youth), then RAD (Reichs Labour Service) and then members of the Panzertruppe (Armoured Troops). Did you really read the novel 3-4 times?The reason for them fighting Soviets instead of Americans in the movie is quite obvious: How could the DEFA possibly have gotten American WW2 tanks/uniforms/weapons? And it really shouldn't matter to anyone that the Soviets are using Kalashnikov rifles, as the movie is not trying to depict weapons, but people. (Unless of course you have read the novel 3-4 times, do not know the difference between Panzer and SS uniforms and rate the quality of a movie by the types of weapons used in it).