In this war drama blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, the working class and the bourgeoisie of 19th century Paris are interviewed and covered on television, before and during a tragic workers’ class revolt.
Category: War
Prostitutes from Athens are transported by truck for the pleasure of the occupying Italian Army in this World War II drama. The 15 women are driven by a young lieutenant who gives a ride to a fascist major. Tension mounts between the two soldiers as the truck is attacked, and some of the women are killed. Love blossoms between one of the prostitutes and the lieutenant, and he encourages her to return home knowing he will never see her again.
Having previously portrayed Adolf Hitler in 1951’s The Desert Fox, Luther Adler once more dons the postage-stamp moustache of Der Fuhrer in The Magic Face. This time, however, Adler essays a dual role, playing both Hitler and a famed theatrical impersonator known as Janus the Great. While performing in Vienna, Janus attracts the attention of Hitler, who makes a play for Janus’ wife Vera. When Janus protests, he is beaten and thrown into prison by the gestapo. Janus escapes and vows to destroy Hitler and to that end poses as the German leader, the better to bollix up the Nazi war plans.
Jan Kadar plays a Czech partisan fighter in the waning days of the war. Just as peace is declared, Kadar is shot in the spine and sent to the hospital emergency ward. As he fades in and out of consciousness, he recalls the events that led to his participation in the underground.
Albin Skoda plays Hitler, who wanders in and out of delirium as his Third Reich crumbles. He is surrounded by reams of existential dialogue from his generals and associates, courtesy of screenwriter Erich Maria Remarque, who based his script on Judge Michael A. Musmanno’s book “Ten Days to Die”. Oscar Werner costars as a fictional “good” Nazi officer who acts as the film’s voice of reason.
During World War II, Diatta is a Senegalese student serving as a sergeant as his country fights alongside the French, even though that same nation raided his village and killed much of his family years earlier. Then, after finishing their duty, Diatta and fellow soldiers are interned at a French camp in Dakar, presumably to be paid for their services. However, their stay is long and the treatment brutal, causing the worldly Diatta to take action against his oppressive captors.
In order to save a Jewish girl from the Nazis and their colaborators, Croatian family arranges her to be wed to their young son. Young man is displeased with sudden end to his careless youth and he doesn’t seem to like the girl or the whole idea. However, when she gets caught in a street raid, it is too late – he must face the fact that he loves her. A young man starts looking for her, even if it means that he would have to go to the very center of concentration camp – the Ninth Circle.