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Before the Fall

Original title: Napola - Elite für den Führer
  • 2004
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
19K
YOUR RATING
Before the Fall (2004)
Friedrich's boxing skills gets him in an elite Nazi high school in a castle in 1942. He enrolls against his dad's wish as it promises a brighter future. It's not what he expected.
Play trailer2:03
1 Video
48 Photos
DramaSportThrillerWar

Friedrich's boxing skills gets him in an elite Nazi high school in a castle in 1942. He enrolls against his dad's wish as it promises a brighter future. It's not what he expected.Friedrich's boxing skills gets him in an elite Nazi high school in a castle in 1942. He enrolls against his dad's wish as it promises a brighter future. It's not what he expected.Friedrich's boxing skills gets him in an elite Nazi high school in a castle in 1942. He enrolls against his dad's wish as it promises a brighter future. It's not what he expected.

  • Director
    • Dennis Gansel
  • Writers
    • Dennis Gansel
    • Maggie Peren
  • Stars
    • Max Riemelt
    • Tom Schilling
    • Devid Striesow
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    19K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Dennis Gansel
    • Writers
      • Dennis Gansel
      • Maggie Peren
    • Stars
      • Max Riemelt
      • Tom Schilling
      • Devid Striesow
    • 72User reviews
    • 45Critic reviews
    • 65Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos1

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    Trailer 2:03
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    Photos48

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    Top cast52

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    Max Riemelt
    Max Riemelt
    • Friedrich Weimer
    Tom Schilling
    Tom Schilling
    • Albrecht Stein
    Devid Striesow
    Devid Striesow
    • Vogler
    Jonas Jägermeyr
    • Christoph Schneider
    Leon A. Kersten
    • Tjaden
    • (as Leon Alexander Kersten)
    Thomas Drechsel
    Thomas Drechsel
    • Hefe
    Martin Goeres
    Martin Goeres
    • Siegfried Gladen
    Florian Stetter
    Florian Stetter
    • Justus von Jaucher
    Joachim Bißmeier
    Joachim Bißmeier
    • Anstaltsleiter
    Michael Schenk
    • Sportlehrer
    Justus von Dohnányi
    Justus von Dohnányi
    • Gauleiter Heinrich Stein
    • (as Justus von Dohnàny and Justus von Dohnányi)
    Claudia Michelsen
    Claudia Michelsen
    • Frau Stein
    Julie Engelbrecht
    Julie Engelbrecht
    • Katharina
    • (as Julie Marie Engelbrecht)
    Johannes Zirner
    Johannes Zirner
    • Torben Send
    Alexander Held
    • Friedrichs Vater
    Sissy Höfferer
    Sissy Höfferer
    • Friedrichs Mutter
    Max Dombrovka
    • Hans Weimer
    • (as Max Dombrowka)
    Marian Schole
    • Peter Fischer
    • Director
      • Dennis Gansel
    • Writers
      • Dennis Gansel
      • Maggie Peren
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews72

    7.418.6K
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    Featured reviews

    9vinylvision

    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.
    8jsmith1480

    Top notch production

    The subject matter is not unfamiliar - a decent German (in this case a talented young boxer) fights to retain his humanity in the face of Nazi pressure to lose it as a bad habit. At heavy cost to himself he refuses. And thinking back to the beginning of the movie we should not be surprised: to accept the invitation to attend an elite academy he must defy his father. To maintain his self-respect later on he must defy the surrogate fathers he has acquired at the academy.

    This a superbly produced, directed film. The young actors' performances are believable and affecting. And for people who care about such things, Max Riemelt as Friedrich, the young, virile, gorgeous protagonist is a very easy guy to look at. Jim Smith
    10singinuall

    extremely touching film

    I saw this film once, and needed to return once more to see it again. This film touched my heart in a way that very few others have. Max Riemelt and Tom Schilling give one of the most convincing and stellar performances I have ever seen. Their chemistry on screen is such that the audience becomes fully engaged in their emotion and in their situation. Their heart-wrenching performance is illuminated by director Dennis Gansel's artistic genius. There are breathtaking shots of German landscape and scenery. There are angles and shots throughout the movie that remain very close to you long after the movie is finished. The story is a very vivid reminder of the horrors that man is capable of producing. This German film is a reminder of that horror, but also reminds us that there is innocence within that horror. If anything, this film depicted young men who were stripped of their innocence. Some gave in to the horror, while our heroes fought against it. For those who are lovers of the German language, you will hear no finer dialogue and range of speech than in this incredible work. I urge anyone and everyone to see this film.
    9ridwane

    Deserves Academy Award for Best Foreign Film

    I just watched Napola at the Montreal World Film Festival and I was pleasantly surprised. This choice of a random movie turned out to be a real cinematographic gem.

    Set during World War II, this movie is about the dilemma and choices of some German teenagers who attend a napola - a special institution for gifted boys to turn them into the Nazi elite. Their days consist of military training and indoctrination; they are forced to lose all pity and become ruthless servants of the Fuhrer.

    The story follows the entrance of Friedrich into a napola, the changes that he undergoes and the choices that he makes. Admitted because of his boxing skills, he seizes it as an opportunity to escape his poor working class situation. His best friend at the napola is the Governor's son - sensitive, caring, humane and opposed to Nazi dogma, he is obviously in the wrong place but has no choice but to fulfill his dad's wishes. As their friendship develops, Friedrich struggles between the ideology that the napola is forcing upon him and his friend's pacific beliefs.

    This powerful film with excellent acting culminates on the boxing ring as Friedrich fights against the champion from another napola. The scene of the morning practice on the frozen lake left me breathless, while the ending of the grenade throwing session shook me with its passion, despair, and horror.

    Another reason why I liked this movie so much is that it is made by Germans; indeed one would expect Hollywood to come up with such a story and that the outcome would be a highly emotional melodrama. I could feel the director disagreeing strongly with the Nazis, but rather than feeling shameful for what his countrymen did 60 years ago, he denounced it. Indeed, Friedrich's ultimate choice should be the choice of the new Germany.

    My rating: 9/10
    8ptb-8

    Dead Nazis Society

    NAPOLA is on screen in a German Film festival touring Australia and like DOWNFALL may get a proper cinema release. It is certainly a commercial film. Not unlike Dead Poets Society but in a Nazi sports academy instead, NAPOLA features an exceptionally good looking cast and really absorbing locations and detail. I found it quite an experience to sit with a largely German audience, many of whom were clearly old age couples and a lot of 30 somethings who were Jewish. Those Anglos like me and my friends enjoyed the atmosphere provided by the audience as much as this very well made film. It is the first time ever I have been able to really feel (what I have always only imagined) a true sense of the thrill that German WW2 teenagers had by joining an elite Nazi regime, their sense of belong to something that was glorious and encompassing. Some more brutal elements from the teachers and Nazi hierarchy I personally found not too far removed from my experience of Catholic school in late (anti-vietnam) 1968! Sorry about that but it really did. Another person commenting on this page is angry that the film is misleading from his genuine Napola experience and it is well worth reading his comments as he was actually there in 38-42. I am sure he would know. However for today, NAPOLA needs to speak to a new audience and present an experience in a new and idealized way to people who have only imagined what it was like; I think the film must fit that in order to succeed as a film in 2005. I found that acceptable. There is many strong physical and emotional scenes, the teen casting is quite ideal and the castle location is eerie and medieval and exactly what I have seen in Hitler Youth Documentaries: turrets, Nazi flags, flames, stone walls etc....it all looks evocative and thrilling in cinemascope. For a 20 something audience this film succeeds well for them, those older might see it as a Nazi pantomime with overtones and snowy style of "The Emperor's Club" or "Dead Poets Society". But for a look into a thrilling and brutal world of elite Nazi sports and harsh idealism, NAPOLA is a very commercial and visually successful film. One sensational scene under the ice on a lake is right out of DAMIEN OMEN 2 and a bit of TITANIC thrown in as well. It is a great scene and quite heartbreaking. The use of snowflakes is particularly emotional in several scenes. If NAPOLA gets a commercial release I would certainly suggest you see it, it delivers what we as an audience want to see in a Nazi teen movie, especially with ideal casting and production values. I also find it quite interesting to see modern German film makers explaining the Nazi past in what seems to be a brave attempt at being honest about its seduction of morals and values and visual excitement.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Parts of the story are based on incident's in the life of Dennis Gansel's grandfather.
    • Goofs
      At least one of the Napola boxers and one of the training officers have pierced ears. Very unlikely, this being set in Nazi Germany.
    • Quotes

      Albrecht Stein: [reading from his essay] "As childish as it sounds, the winter time and the sight of freshly fallen snow always fill us with inexplicable joy. Perhaps because as children, we associated it with Christmas. I always imagine myself the hero who killed dragons, rescued virgins, and freed the world from evil. As we went out yesterday to find the prisoners, I felt like that little boy who wanted to save the world."

      Vogler: Albrecht, stop.

      Albrecht Stein: But as we returned, I understood that I am part of the evil that I wanted to save us from.

      Vogler: Albrecht, stop.

      Albrecht Stein: Shooting prisoners is wrong. They were not armed, as Governor Stein told us, to incite us. We didn't shoot men, only children.

      Vogler: Out!

    • Connections
      Featured in Videotagebuch von Dennis Gansel (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Uns're Fahne flattert uns voran
      (Vorwärts! Vorwärts! schmettern die hellen Fanfaren)

      Music by Hans-Otto Borgmann (as Hans Otto Borgmann)

      Lyrics by Baldur von Schirach

      Performed by chorus featuring Max Riemelt

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    FAQ17

    • How long is Before the Fall?Powered by Alexa

    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 13, 2005 (Germany)
    • Country of origin
      • Germany
    • Languages
      • German
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • 希特勒的男孩
    • Filming locations
      • Prague, Czech Republic
    • Production companies
      • Olga Film
      • Constantin Film
      • SevenPictures Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $144,254
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $8,036
      • Oct 9, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,764,219
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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