The Fifth Commandment (1978)
"Das fünfte Gebot" (original title)

Director:

Duccio Tessari

Writers:

Michael Lentz, Duccio Tessari

Stars:

Helmut Berger, Peter Hooten, Evelyne Kraft

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helmut Berger	...	Bernhard Redder
Peter Hooten	...	Leo Redder
Evelyne Kraft	...	Evelyn Pages (as Evelyn Kraft)
Umberto Orsini	...	Sturmführer Hannacker / Vater Redder
Udo Kier	...	Peter Dümmel
Kurt Zips	...	Atsche Kummer
Heinrich Giskes	...	Rudi Linnemann
Lorella De Luca	...	Mutter Redder
Wolf Linder	...	Onkel Hans (as Wolff Lindner)
Rudolf Cornelius	...	Ridderbusch
Michael Enk	...	Potthoff
Wolfgang Kählert	...	Muthmann
Gerhard Kohol
Michael Weidelt	...	Der junge Leo
Rainer Will	...	Der junge Bernhard

Storyline

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

24 August 1978 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Fifth Commandment

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oase Filmproduktion, S. Alabino, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

The fifth commandment of period dramas

Duccio Tessari is well known for his staircase shots and for his ability to direct anything... Here he tries his luck at period drama, a genre that wasn't very popular in '77, at least in Italy.

With Berger, Orsini, Kraft & Kier in the cast, Alabiso at the editing table, and Trovajoli behind his piano, you'd think that you can't go wrong, no ? Well, not quite. The storyline is focusing on two brothers falling in a bottomless pit of no return, stealing banks to terrorize the German population during most of 1930. Behind their actions stand the nazis, who have a plan to try and prove the country needs a bit of brutal "cleansing".

It's all told in a very classic manner, with almost no blood shed and the story insisting on character psychology rather than linear progression. Which can bring the viewer on the verge of sleep quite rapidly...

Evelyne Kraft is gorgeous in the few scenes she's appearing, and coupled with Trovajoli's joyous score, these are the only two elements worthy of attention here.

The french canadian tape, distributed during the 80's, shows a drawing of a nazi army in front of a row of huge flags, which can bring you to think the movie's part of this silly italian "nazisploitation" wave, but it's sadly not... Now this would have been interesting from Tessari !