Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt? (1932)

A working-class family in Berlin in 1931 where survival is difficult, with massive unemployment in the wake of the Great Depression. After Anni's brother commits suicide in despair, her ... See full summary »

Director:

Slatan Dudow

Writers:

Bertolt Brecht, Ernst Ottwald

Stars:

Hertha Thiele, Ernst Busch, Martha Wolter

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hertha Thiele	...	Annie
Ernst Busch	...	Fritz
Martha Wolter	...	Gerda
Adolf Fischer	...	Karl Genosse
Lili Schoenborn-Anspach	...	(as Lilli Schönborn)
Max Sablotzki
Alfred Schaefer
Gerhard Bienert
Martha Burchardi
Carl Heinz Charrell
Helene Weigel	...	Ballad Singer (voice)
Karl Kahmen
Fritz Erpenbeck
Josef Hanoszek
Richard Pilgert

Storyline

A working-class family in Berlin in 1931 where survival is difficult, with massive unemployment in the wake of the Great Depression. After Anni's brother commits suicide in despair, her family finds itself forced to move to Kuhle Wampe, a lakeside camp on the outskirts of Berlin, now home to increasing numbers of unemployed. When Anni's relationship with Franz ends, she moves back to Berlin and gets involved in the workers' youth movement.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | unemployment | working class | working class family | controversial | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

23 April 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Whom Does the World Belong?

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prometheus-Film-Verleih und Vertriebs-GmbH, Praesens-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min 76 min (censored) 80 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A német film 1933-ig (1989)

User Reviews

Slatan Dudow's film classic not to be missed

This is a great film, an early example of fiction film-making that is responsive to social and political circumstances, but that doesn't get bogged down in the naturalist pessimism of, say, Piel Jutzi's contemporary "Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück." The cinematography may not be the most compelling, but it is sensitive, considered, and bears the mark of Dudow's admiration for Eisenstein. Brecht was only one of the collaborators on the script -- together with the reportage-novelist Ernst Ottwalt, even if he was its most outspoken defender in the censorship proceedings; and the idea for the film was Dudow's, a Bulgarian-born theater and film director who had made one documentary prior to "Kuhle Wampe" and would go on to co-found the East German studio, DEFA.