Der neunte Tag (2004)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Jean Bernard (memoir "Pfarrerblock 25487") and
Eberhard Görner (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 November 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A drama loosely based on Jean Bernard's Nazi-era prison diary.

Plot Keywords:

Bishop | Gestapo | Catholic Church | Letter | Concentration Camp

Awards:

5 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Ulrich Matthes	...	Abbé Henri Kremer
August Diehl	...	Untersturmführer Gebhardt
Hilmar Thate	...	Bischof Philippe
Bibiana Beglau	...	Marie Kremer
Germain Wagner	...	Roger Kremer
Jean-Paul Raths	...	Raymond Schmitt
Ivan Jirík	...	Armando Bausch
Karel Hromadka	...	Pater Laurant Koltz
Miroslav Sichmann	...	Pater Marcel Bour
Adolf Filip	...	Professor Klimek (Kraków)
Vladimir Fiser	...	Bischof Kozal
Peter Varga	...	Józef (Polish Inmate) (as Petr Varga)
Petr Janis	...	Pater Nansen
Zdenek Pechácek	...	Lagerführer
Vaclav Kratky	...	SS-Mann

Also Known As:

Devátý den (Czech Republic)
Le neuvième jour (Luxembourg: French title)
Pfarrerblock (Germany) (working title)
The Ninth Day (International: English title)

Runtime:

98 min | Argentina:98 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Germany | Luxembourg | Czech Republic

Language:

German | French

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Hungary:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company:

Provobis Film

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the film takes place in January 1942, the bishop mentions the deportations of Dutch Jews, which began in July 1942.

Soundtrack:

Frauen sind keine Engel

Graphic, but no where near the best Holocaust film...

You may go into this, thinking that it's an interesting, unique and intense Nazi film. Think again. When I read the summary, I thought the same thing, however I was quite a bit disappointed with the end result. Granted, this is a true story, and someone's real life experiences (especially as horrible as Holcocaust survivors' usually are) are nothing to be sniffed at, this however was not one of the best WWII films I've ever seen. And, although it was a German movie, and therefore, not in English, it did make it difficult to enjoy it as much had it been an American made film, where I could have watched it in my native language. Though, I won't say that the film was bad, either. It had excellent cinematography, direction, and the acting was not only realistic, but the makeup was profoundly superb.

The only things I had against the film, were that some of the scenes seemed too long, while the story dragged on. The music was cheap and not of good quality, while the story itself was written and directed very slow.

All in all it wasn't a terrible film, but again, it's the kind of movie that has much more dialogue, and intellect, than most Holocaust films do. This is not a, "Shindler's List" or even a "The Pianist", but rather something more along the lines of a business Nazi movie. There were a couple of very graphic scenes, in the very beginning and then towards the middle and end, though the majority of the film is spent indoors, offices, and homes. It's not the best film dedicated to that period of time, but you might enjoy it. Just make sure you watch it in a language you'll understand completely. That will help a great deal.