Nackt unter Wölfen (1963)

Director:

Frank Beyer

Writers:

Bruno Apitz (novel)
Bruno Apitz (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 April 1963 (East Germany)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

As rumors reach them that the Allied armies are advancing on their concentration camp at Buchenwald...

Plot Keywords:

Buchenwald | Auschwitz | Prisoner | Concentration Camp | Survival

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Erwin Geschonneck	...	Walter Kraemer
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	André Höfel
Krystyn Wójcik	...	Marian Kropinski
Fred Delmare	...	Rudi Pippig
Viktor Avdyushko	...	Leonid Bogorski
Gerry Wolff	...	Herbert Bochow
Boleslaw Plotnicki	...	Zacharias Jankowski
Peter Sturm	...	August Rose
Erik S. Klein	...	Untersturmführer Reineboth
Herbert Köfer	...	Hauptsturmführer Kluttig
Wolfram Handel	...	Hauptscharführer Zweiling
Heinz Peter Scholz	...	Standartenführer Schwahl
Joachim Tomaschewsky	...	Sturmbannführer Weisangk
Joachim Jablonski	...	Sturmbannführer Kamloth
Zygmunt Malanowicz	...	Josef Pribula

Also Known As:

Naked Among Wolves
Naked Among the Wolves

Runtime:

Germany:116 min | USA:100 min | Hong Kong:124 min | France:120 min

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German | Polish | Czech | French | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-10 (1970) | Finland:K-16 (1963) | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

Buchenwald memorial, Thuringia, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Trivia:

Prior to the film, East German TV had already produced and broadcast a TV production of the same title. Director Frank Beyer adopted three of the actors that had already appeared in the TV film (Fred Delmare, Wolfram Handel, and Peter Sturm).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Geiger, Gaukler, Gentleman (2001) (TV)

Worth a look!

For historical significance this movie deserves more than a 7, but one should rate movies based on how much one actually liked the movie, thus my 7 rating. (This still means I liked and recommend the movie!) I watched this after seeing Frank Beyer's "Jakob the Liar," and I think "Naked Among Wolves" is the better film. One of my nit-picks with these films is that the harshness and brutality of life in the ghetto or concentration camp is not fully revealed. The films are products of their times, I suppose. And one cannot make actors look like skeletons. The most brutal portrayal of the holocaust I have seen (in a non-documentary) is in the TV mini-series "War and Remembrance." Neither of Beyer's films comes close. Again, I'm sure that there was so much an East German film director in the 1960's and 70's could do. That criticism out of the way, I think that "Naked Among Wolves" is a fine film with interesting characters and performances.