Edelweißpiraten (2004)

Director:

Niko von Glasow

Writers:

Kiki von Glasow (screenplay)
Niko von Glasow (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

A true story of courage and human dignity.

Plot:

Cologne-Ehrenfeld, November 1944. They're young, wild and rebellious, like young people anywhere and in any time...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | German Resistance | Historical | Melodrama | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ivan Stebunov	...	Karl Ripke (as Iwan Stebunov)
Bela B. Felsenheimer	...	Hans Steinbrück
Jochen Nickel	...	Josef Hoegen
Anna Thalbach	...	Cilly Serve
Jan Decleir	...	Ferdinand Kütter
Simon Taal	...	Peter Ripke
Jean Jülich	...	Alter Karl
Florian Wilken	...	Franz 'Bubbes' Rheinberger
Dominik Bromma	...	Günther Schwarz
Johannes Schaller	...	Barthel Schink
Pavel Metyanin	...	Adolf "Dölfes" Schütz
Volker Röhlich	...	Roland Lorent
Svetlana Gajtan	...	Maria
Wolfgang Michael	...	Peter Hüppeler
Susanne Bredehöft	...	Social worker

Also Known As:

Edelweiss Pirates (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:111 min (original version) | Argentina:111 min | Germany:95 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Germany | Switzerland | Netherlands | Luxembourg

Language:

German | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

St. Petersburg, Russia

Company:

Palladio Film

Refreshing to see new history uncovered

Wartime propaganda in North America painted all Germans as evil but it seems that finally enough time has passed since the end of the war that films can explore more subtle story lines. Not all Germans were Nazis and the stories of those Germans who just tried to survive and even some who went beyond and protested the war through their dress and activities are not well known. This film does an admirable job of showing daily life amidst the ruins of Cologne in the closing months of WWII. Short of food and hope, gangs of anti Hitler-youth who call themselves 'Eidelweiss Pirates' listen to French underground jazz music and fill their days with mild acts of protest against the state. Eventually these teenage kids are drawn into the underground through personal circumstance to do their part to terminate the war in any way they can, perhaps foolishly and without forethought but with as much belief in their cause as their Hitler Youth counterparts. Truly a groundbreaking piece of film and a story that needs to be told. The film does suffer from being a bit slow moving, especially at the beginning, and the final scene is overwrought, but these are minor complaints.