NaPolA (2004)

Director:

Dennis Gansel

Writers:

Dennis Gansel (writer)
Maggie Peren (writer)

Release Date:

25 December 2004 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Sport | War

Tagline:

Men Make History. We Make The Men.

Plot:

In 1942, Friedrich Weimer's boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) - high schools that produce Nazi elite...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Factory | Russian | Forest | Friendship

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Max Riemelt	...	Friedrich Weimer
Tom Schilling	...	Albrecht Stein
Jonas Jägermeyr	...	Christoph Schneider
Leon A. Kersten	...	Tjaden (as Leon Alexander Kersten)
Thomas Drechsel	...	Hefe
Martin Goeres	...	Siegfried Gladen
Florian Stetter	...	Justus von Jaucher
Devid Striesow	...	Vogler
Joachim Bissmeier	...	Anstaltsleiter
Michael Schenk	...	Sportlehrer
Justus von Dohnanyi	...	Gauleiter Heinrich Stein (as Justus von Dohnàny and Justus von Dohnányi)
Claudia Michelsen	...	Frau Stein
Julie Engelbrecht	...	Katharina (as Julie Marie Engelbrecht)
Johannes Zirner	...	Torben Send
Gerald Alexander Held	...	Friedrichs Vater (as Alexander Held)

Also Known As:

Before the Fall (International: English title)
Before the Fall (Napola) (USA)
Junge Wölfe - Elite für den Führer (Germany) (working title)
NaPolA (Germany) (closing credits title)
Napola (Germany) (short title)
Napola - Elite für den Führer (Germany) (promotional title)
Napola: Hitler's Elite (Singapore: English title) (poster title)

Runtime:

117 min | Czech Republic:110 min (Karlovy Vary Film Festival) | Argentina:110 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | USA:110 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:12 | Netherlands:12 | Hungary:14 | Australia:MA | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Hamburg, Germany

Company:

Olga Film GmbH

Trivia:

About 44 minutes into the US DVD edition of the movie, there is a scene where Albrecht pauses sadly over a picture of a fallen soldier, Torben Send. Torben was the previous editor of the school paper. There was a brief scene with the two of them before Torben left for the army, but it was ultimately cut from the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: During Friedrich's glider flight, his helmet is securely strapped at the start but is shown unstrapped a few seconds later. He kept both hands on the glider's yoke.

Quotes:

Christoph Schneider: Pull yourself together!
Albrecht Stein: Pull myself together? Do you know what we just did? You shouldn't have shot! You shouldn't have shot!
Tjaden: I didn't give the order. Your father said they had guns!
Albrecht Stein: Why are you looking at me like that?
Friedrich Weimer: I'm not looking at you.
Albrecht Stein: I know what you're thinking. Don't look at me like that!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou" (2008)

A great film, meaningful, deeply moving emotionally

This film which depicts an elite Nazi teenage male youth training facility takes place in Germany during 1941 or 1942. Students are being trained to become future leaders after Germany wins the war. Much of the training is brutal. Students are taught to win regardless of any pain that their actions might cause their fellow man - whether friend or foe, fellow countryman or enemy. The film tells how the students accept or reject their training and the consequences of their decisions/indecisions.

I saw this film at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival at a "Best of Fest" special showing. It certainly should be a candidate for an academy nomination as "Best Foreign Language Film" but I do not know if it has a distributor for North America. It reminded me somewhat of a 2003 Palm Springs festival entry - EVIL/ONDSKAN (Dir. Mikael Hafstrom/Sweden) - which also packed an emotional kick in the gut that left me stuck in my seat for at least five minutes after the film had ended. Napola is the better of the two films by far. Great acting, script, direction, music, etc. See it on a big cinema screen if at all possible since film makes great use of the colors that will not have a similar impact in a video format.